“It really bothers me” – Jessica Pegula makes brutally honest admission about her ‘sloppy’ performance after shock Canadian Open exit
Jessica Pegula, the world No. 4 and two-time defending champion, suffered a shocking third-round exit at the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal, falling to world No. 386 Anastasija Sevastova in a 6-3, 4-6, 1-6 defeat on July 31, 2025. The loss ended Pegula’s hopes of achieving a historic three-peat, a feat only Monica Seles accomplished at the tournament (1995-1998). In a brutally honest post-match press conference, Pegula expressed deep frustration with her inconsistent performance, stating, “I don’t really feel like I’m playing great tennis. At times I am, but I feel very up and down, kind of sloppy, which I don’t like. It really bothers me. I’m kind of a perfectionist, so I don’t like having to say that.”
Pegula, who entered as the third seed, started strongly with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Maria Sakkari in the second round, leveraging her 90.0% win rate at the Canadian Open, the highest in any WTA 1000 event since 2009. However, against Sevastova, a 35-year-old Latvian returning from maternity leave and a 2024 ACL injury, Pegula’s game unraveled. She cruised through the first set but faltered in the second, failing to convert break points in critical games. “I felt I had total control, and then I played a couple of terrible games. I gifted it to her,” Pegula admitted, noting Sevastova’s flawless third set forced her into uncomfortable positions.
The defeat capped a disappointing stretch for Pegula, who also exited early at Wimbledon and the Citi DC Open, where she lost to Leylah Fernandez in three sets. Despite a strong 2025 season with titles in Charleston, Austin, and Bad Homburg, and finals in Miami and Adelaide, Pegula acknowledged a recurring pattern of inconsistency. “I feel like I’ve gone through phases in my career, a few tournaments, where I feel like that sometimes, and you have to figure out how to get out of it and not feel sorry for yourself or make excuses,” she said.
Looking ahead to the Cincinnati Open (August 7-18), Pegula pinpointed her focus on “big points” and sustaining high-level play, stating, “Every single match is focusing on those big points and those big games because I do think I am playing some good tennis to get up in these matches, and then it kind of falls away.” Her doubles campaign with Madison Keys also ended abruptly in Montreal, losing to Markéta Vondroušová and Peyton Stearns. As Pegula prepares for the US Open, where she reached the 2024 final, this setback highlights the challenge of maintaining consistency under pressure, a hurdle she’s determined to overcome.
