Jessica Pegula has hit out at the world rankings system despite being on course to qualify for the end of season WTA Finals next month. Pegula, 30, has enjoyed her best year to date in 2024, reaching the final of the US Open where she was beaten by Aryna Sabalenka.

The American is currently in the Far East preparing for a tournament in Wuhan, having reached the third round of the China Open last week.

But she’s admitted to already focussing on the season finale in Saudi Arabia from November 2-9, looking to go one better then last year when she was beaten in the final by Iga Swiatek.

It means that Pegula has a healthy dose of ranking points to try and defend in Riyadh, a prospect that looked unlikely when she picked up a neck injury this summer. As a result, she slipped down to 19th in the standings, with only the best seven ranked players handed an automatic spot for Saudi.

“I’m not really one to look at points or what it takes to defend them every week,” said Pegula in Wuhan. “But the one thing that was kind of a bummer a few months ago was that you have to qualify for the WTA Finals to be able to defend the points.

“So I was just thinking ‘that’s going to suck to not have a chance to defend any of it.’ I was not too happy about that and it left me a little down about the whole thing.”

However, since her display at Flushing Meadows, Pegula is up to No.5 and odds-on to be invited to the WTA’s flagship tour event. More than £12million in prize money will be split between the eight participants, with Swiatek and Sabalenka having already sealed their spots.

Elena Ryabinka and Jasmine Paolini are currently ranked third and fourth, with Pegula ahead of Coco Gauff and Emma Navarro. The final spot is awarded to the highest-ranked current-year Grand Slam winning player between eighth and 20th.

Pegula will return to action on Tuesday, but is yet to learn her first-round opponent. The star is seeded second for the tournament in the Hubei Province and is chasing her eighth career title.

And she’s insisted her exploits in New York in September has no bearing on her current form. “The US Open final, it seems like so long ago and like we’ve already moved onto the next thing,” she said.

“Tennis can be like that, in a good way if you’ve had a bad week, but in a brutal way if you’ve had a great couple weeks. I think I played some good tennis in Beijing, so I want to keep building on that.”