Jessica Pegula’s chances of competing at the 2025 Australian Open hit a major blow when she announced her withdrawal from the Brisbane International.

Pegula’s 2024 season came to an abrupt end after she picked up an injury midway through the WTA Finals. The American remained winless after the opening two round-robin matches. Ahead of her clash against Iga Swiatek, Pegula withdrew from the tournament with a left-knee injury. She has since been recuperating, skipping the 2025 United Cup in the process.

Pegula’s persisting knee injury has now forced her to withdraw from WTA 500 event in Brisbane. Event organizers announced on Thursday, December 26, that the World No. 7 will be replaced by Dutch player Suzan Lamens.

It has been nearly two months since Pegula picked up her injury. She has about two weeks to recover and give herself a chance of playing at the Melbourne Major, which starts on January 12.

Last year at the Grand Slam Down Under, Pegula registered a 6-2, 6-4 win in her opener against Rebecca Marino. She then lost to France’s Clara Burel 6-4, 6-2 in the second round. Her best finish in Melbourne was reaching the quarterfinals, which she achieved in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Meanwhile, the 2025 Brisbane International main draw will commence on December 29. With Pegula’s exit, Aryna Sabelanka, Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina are some of the big names to watch out for in the hardcourt tournament.

“Getting hurt was probably the best thing” – Jessica Pegula on sitting out European clay season due to injury

Jessica Pegula suffered a rib injury midway through the 2024 season. The injury kept her completely out of the European clay swing. She missed out on the French Open and a few WTA 1000 tournaments, including the Italian Open and the Madrid Open.

However, the rib issue was a blessing in disguise for Pegula, who maintained that the injury helped her get a much needed hiatus from the tour.

“I haven’t had that long of a break since Covid. I’ve played so much over the last three, four years that it all caught up with me,” Pegula said, via Tennis.com.

Competing on the tour without breaks since the COVID-19 took a toll on Pegula as she stated that she reached a “burning-out point.”

“I was at a burning-out point and I think, in a way, getting hurt was probably the best thing for me,” she added.

Jessica Pegula retured to action from her rib injury at the Libema Open, where she suffered a second-round loss to Aleksandra Krunic.