Will Jessica Pegula win her first major?
The American star was among the main candidates to win the Australian Open, but can she win the tournament? A tennis legend believes so.
Predicting tennis games or major’s potential winners is often quite a difficult task, but when it comes to guessing who can win a Grand Slam tournament in the women’s category, it is even harder, as upsets happen way more often than in the men’s brackets.
Iga Swiatek seemed one of the most reasonable picks, as she’s the world’s No. 1 and looked almost invincible last year, but players like Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, or Jessica Pegula were also on the list of candidates to lift the trophy.
The American made it to the quarterfinals after a 7-5 6-2 win over Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday.
In the same round, Gauff and Swiatek were eliminated by Jelena Ostapenko and Elena Rybakina, respectively.
American legend predicts Pegula will lift the trophy
Pegula, who is on an eight-game winning streak, won the first edition of the United Cup together with Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, and Madison Keys.
American legend John McEnroe believes that Pegula’s red-hot form will take the Buffalo native to win her first Grand Slam tournament.
“I think she [Pegula] is mentally rock solid, she’s got herself in a place where it’s intimidating how strong mentally she is. Her game, it doesn’t feel like it’s going to break down where some of the other players [do].”
“So there’s people out there that could win the tournament. But I think Jessica, if you look at the overall picture right now is the one to beat”, McEnroe added.
Pegula will be facing Victoria Azarenka in the last eight on Tuesday, with Rybakina taking on Ostapenko.