Return to ‘True Roots’ Has Defending Champ Pegula Eying Charleston Repeat
Credit One Charleston Open, Credit One Stadium
WORLD NO. 5 GOES BACK TO BASICS TO FIND TOP FORM
Her unforgettable run to the title match at the 2024 US Open, her first appearance in a major singles final, exists in a category all its own. And justifiably so. But, for now anyway, 2025 stands as the most prolific year of Jessica Pegula’s professional tennis career.
It was last year, after all, that Pegula played her way into a career-best six tour-level finals, bagging three trophies, also a career milestone, on three different surfaces in Austin (hard), Charleston (clay) and Bad Homburg (grass). Her triumph on Daniel Island made it 17 wins in 19 matches. The American once again qualified for the WTA Finals, and finished amongst the year-end Top 10 for the fourth season in a row.
But even the defending Credit One Charleston Open champion will tell you that all those ups came with the occasional down, including a midsummer stall that would see Pegula go 2-4 between Wimbledon and the Cincinnati Open. The reason?
“I didn’t feel like myself,” she reflected. “I didn’t feel like I was playing my game.”
Together with the ‘Marks’ — her co-coaches, Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein — Pegula did some soul searching. She also put in the hours on the practice court polishing up her footwork, taking the ball even earlier, and serving, serving and serving some more, something that’s paid off with a noticeable boost in free points. In the process, a funny thing happened: She rediscovered her on-court identity.
“My coaches and I worked on a lot of stuff to get my game back, to emphasize what I do really well, kind of get back to the true roots of my game.” — Jessica Pegula
“My coaches and I worked on a lot of stuff to get my game back, to emphasize what I do really well, kind of get back to the true roots of my game,” said the player-podcaster, now 32. “We went back to emphasizing how I play tennis. We kind of went back to the basics of, ‘Okay, this is how you play. It’s special. How do we make that more efficient?’”
Some chronic knee pain aside, that reintroduction has worked wonders over the past six months. Coming into the 2026 Credit One Charleston Open, Pegula has reached the quarterfinals or better in her last nine events, highlighted by her 10th career title in Dubai, her fourth at the WTA 1000 level. After an elite eight showing at the Miami Open (l. to Elena Rybakina, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4), Pegula will now turn her attention to the annual cement-to-green-clay pivot and a title defense in South Carolina.
She’ll have her work cut out for her against a draw that includes fellow Americans and past champions Madison Keys (2019) and Sloane Stephens (2016), as well as two-time Grand Slam finalist Amanda Anisimova, 2025 runner-up Sofia Kenin and teen sensation Iva Jovic.
“Our depth in the U.S. is pretty crazy right now,” said Pegula. “I feel like every time I go deep, there’s multiple Americans that are there. It’s been incredible. I’m glad that I’ve been able to be a part of this era of all these girls doing really well in the States. I know it’s definitely motivated me to see them do well.”
“It’s an honor to be a part of this amazing group,” she added. “There’s a lot of young ones like Iva that are coming up, whom I’m way older than, which is really depressing. [Laughs.] I’m glad I’m able to inspire and show that next generation that’s coming up.”
