Key events
Krejcikova, meanwhile, has greater power and variety – where Pegula hits flat, she likes to vary spins, hitting with top and slice, the latter even on forehand, and of course she’s the bigger server. We can be certain she’ll come on to court with a plan, whereas I wonder if Pegula might just do what she always does and hope she does it well enough to win.
The other thing, of course, is fitness. Pegula has had knee grief and neck aggro, taking time off to recuperate, but she’s in nick now; we said earlier that she lacks power, but no one in the competition has broken more than she.
Pegula was properly unhappy with her form after her first hit – she said she hit with Sabalenka and took a hiding. But then she did an escape rook with her mates, had a couple of drinks, and reminded herself to relax, then played really nicely having a good laugh in the mixed with Jack Draper. She’s feeling pretty decent now.
Preamble
Yes yes y’all and welcome to the US Open 2025 – day 10!
We’re at that point, aren’t we? Excitement increasing as competition escalates while, at the back of our minds, that nagging sense of loss because we’re nearing the end. But let’s lozz that for now because awaiting us today are a pair of potentially terrific matches.
In a sense, Jess Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova are opposites. Pegula, seeded four here, had been a member of the numerical elite for quite some time, with nine career titles to her name. But at the slams she tends to bump up against the limitations of her own athleticism, doing no better than the last eight apart from in this tournament last year, when she made the final and kept it tight for bit, but was ultimately outclassed by Aryna Sabalenka.
What will grate is that in the time she’s been good, all manner of player ostensibly less so – and not just those naturally faster and stronger – have won majors. Take Barbora Krejcikova, for example. Previously renowned as a doubles specialist, she’s won both Roland-Garros and Wimbledon, relying not otherworldly power, rather an all-court game supported by the ability, mentality and feel to produce her best when it really matters.
So far, this has largely been beyond Pegula who, at 31, is running out of time. But if she hits her top level or close to it, she’ll expect to win here and rightly so.
Following them on to court are Jiri Lehecka and Carlos Alcaraz, whose match in the final of Queen’s was closely contested – until it got close, whereupon suddenly it wasn’t. Ultimately, there was a sense throughout that the world no 2 would do whatever ended up being necessary to win, which intensifies over the longer distance.
However if Lehecka serves well, taking any set off him is difficult – at Queen’s, the first went to 7-5 and he took the second 7-6. Though he’ll have to play the match of his life to make this a serious contest, he’s already beaten Alcaraz on hard this season and, at 23, will feel ready to take the next step. We shall soon see.
Play: 11.30am local, 4.30pm BST
