Jessica Pegula survived a scare in the SF of Cincinnati against Paula Badosa, but the scariest part came after the match! She won the first set, but the Spaniard made a strong comeback in the second. However, in the third, Pegula managed to pull things back on track to win the match by 6-2,3-6,6-3. Shortly after finishing off her match, she came up for an on-court interview. During the interview, we witnessed a hilarious moment when it looked as if Pegula had a mini heart attack when she mistakenly heard Serena’s name instead of Aryna’s.

Pegula will face Aryna Sabalenka in the finals of the event. The 30-year-old tennis star has now joined the list of Serena Williams and four others to become only the sixth player to reach the finals in both Canada and Cincinnati. She is a huge admirer of Williams. Although Pegula has played only once against this tennis legend, it seems she’s still haunted by the ‘Queen of the Court’s’ dominance in the tennis world.

For example, shortly after beating Badosa, when the interviewer asked her what was her thoughts about going into such an epic final against Aryna, she paused a bit looking completely frozen. As if she has seen a ghost! After pausing for a few seconds, she told the interviewer, “Erm, I thought you said ‘Serena’“. Then the journalist laughed a bit and replied, “Yeah, so here’s a surprise, ladies and gentlemen, Serena…” Even Pegula couldn’t hold her laughter after hearing this. She said, “I mean, you never know.“

Jessica Pegula is a big fan of Williams and she has time and again reflected her admiration for the American tennis legend. In 2022, when Williams said that the US Open would be the final tournament in her illustrious career, Pegula said, “I just can’t believe like the era of Serena is kind of on the tennis court is over. I mean, it’s just hard to picture tennis without her.“

Similarly, there was one instance from 2022 when Pegula was a bit stunned when her name was mentioned in the same sentence as that of Williams. Watching Serena Williams play tennis right from her childhood to getting placed beside her idol’s name in the stats was truly an astonishing moment for Pegula. She explained that it was truly a “crazy” moment in her life. Well, talking about getting placed beside Williams in stats, she achieved a couple of them in her previous tournament as well.

Jessica Pegula reflects on her admiration for Serena Williams!

At the 2024 Canadian Open, Jessica Pegula became the first woman to win ten consecutive matches since Serena Williams. Not only that, she is also the first American woman to win the singles title since Serena Williams in 2013. Coming back from injury and playing such wonderful tennis was truly exceptional. Even Serena Williams former coach expressed her love for Pegula when she won the Grass Court Championship in Berlin earlier this year. Rennae Stubbs congratulated her on X saying, “CONGRATS @JPegula!! I mean what an incredible comeback from injury! Damn!“

What a run this has been for Pegula! Is she really trying to replicate a bit of her idol in the tennis world? Well, in November 2023, Pegula gave an interview where she reflected her admiration for Williams. She said, “I don’t think anyone can fill Serena’s shoes. Someone like Coco has a lot of pressure on her as far as being regarded as the next Serena or Venus. I don’t really see that as a role I have to fill. But it’s pretty cool when I can say ‘I’ve won this many hard-court matches, it hasn’t been done since Serena‘”. Do you agree with this statement of Jessica Pegula?