American Jessica Pegula finished the year ranked No. 3, but at times she could be upset on the court. The 28-year-old finally won a huge tournament in Guadalajara dismissing Maria Sakkari in the final. But soon thereafter in the WTA Finals in Texas, she did not win against three opponents.
Oh well, in 2022, she went from flawless to floundering.
“It just gets frustrating after it happening so many times in a year; I don’t think that’s happened so many times to someone else as it did to me, so that’s why I was very frustrated,” she said.
A few years ago, she was outside of the top 60, and she was somewhat consistent, but she was not aggressive enough. Then she had decided that win or lose, when she has a real chance to jump on the ball, she would go for the lines. But that can be risky.
“All these challenges and I just did a good job of handling it, knowing I’m in a really tough section and maybe someone in my section is going to win the tournament and I think just decided more like, ‘Okay this is my chance to work my way through the draw and be that person that’s going to win,’ ” she said.
Pegula is the top American, just ahead of No. 7 Coco Gauff. They both play doubles together, a decent amount, and they are No. 3.
Pegula has yet to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam, but she could do that next year. To do it, she has thrown in some new shots.
“Luckily it worked out but it’s definitely challenging but at the same time if you take it the right way it can be extremely motivating,” she said.
NOTES
Gauff has had a very good year, as the 18-year-old improved a lot. But there are times when she gets deep into the tournaments, she can miss a lot of shots. She can hit the balls pretty hard, but she can be predictable. It will take her years to correctly decide which strokes to hit. That did happen with former No. 1 Ash Barty. When she started, she always had a lot of variety, but when she played from the backcourt, her shots could be very short. Eventually, she grew up and her forehand, her first serve and the return rose so high.
The good thing for Gauff is that the reason why she plays lots of doubles, that the No. 7 is pretty good at the net and when she returns. In 2023, she can bring it into the singles and possible win a Grand Slam. But that is a big maybe.
With the retirement of 23-Grand-Slam-winner Serena Williams, which players can win a major next year? Obviously, Gauff, but you can throw in the rest of the top 30 such as Americans Madison Keys, Danielle Collins and Amanda Anisimova.
The veteran Keys has gone years without great results. When she was playing terrific with her massive strokes, but she has pulled out a lot due to her injuries. She is making the effort, but the No. 11 is not that fast, and she still is not comfortable at the net. At the 2016 US Open, she reached the final, and it looked like that eventually, she would grab it someday. But now, it is very questionable. Maybe she will have a few more years when she is looking like that she is jolly. This year, she had two very good tournaments at the Australian Open and Cincinnati, but that was it. She has to be more advanced, especially about her second serve and at the net.
Collins is so up and down. She did have some strong results, such as at the Australian Open, when she reached the final, beating Iga Swiatek before she lost to Barty. The No. 14 Collins loves to swing away, and she can boom the ball, but she throws in too many errors. The 28-year-old wants to continue to mix it up, and that is a good thing, but in order to get better results, then she should add some different thumps.
Anisimova started at No. 81 in January and now she is ranked No. 23, which is good because she got hurt at the US Open, and then she could not play for the rest of the year. She is only 21 years old. Let us assume that she is continuing how to really play when she is extremely close. This year she did win some tough matches, but she has also lost against Simona Halep twice, Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur, among others. However, Anisimova did out hit against the four-time major champion Naomi Osaka. She was up in the top of the world. But not always. The Floridian can be very frustrated, but each year, if she wants to build with her strokes, she needs to find something new, and some very cool.
By the way, outside of the top 30, there are three Grand Slam winners who are still playing: Sloane Stephens, Sofia Kenin and Venus Williams. Clearly, the seven-time Grand Slam champ Venus is 42 years old, and she is too slow now. She may retire next year.
Stephens, who won the 2017 U.S. Open, she did not play well almost all year. Will she return and strike the ball hard?
Almost three years ago, Kenin won the Australian Open. But now she is ranked No. 238. She has played quite a bit this season, but she cannot get moving again. Something is going on. Why? No one really knows.