Jessika Ponchet is the only member of the French contingent still standing in either of the singles draws, which started with seven women and 14 men—three of whom also came through qualifying to earn their spots in the main draw of the US Open.
On Saturday, Ponchet will face 2018 Australian Open champion and 2014 US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki, who is currently the world No. 71 after coming back to the sport out of retirement just over a year ago.
Here’s what you should know about the 27-year-old from France before she takes the court in the Grandstand later today:
Ponchet hasn’t dropped a set during her run at the US Open—and has spent the least time on-court during the main draw.
Ponchet has an advantage in this category, as she’s only played one main-draw match. She defeated Zheng Saisai of China in 1 hour, 5 minutes in the first round, and was scheduled to play No. 4 seed Elena Rybakina in the second round before the 2022 Wimbledon champion unexpectedly withdrew from the tournament shortly before their match was scheduled to begin, resulting in a walkover.
However, the Frenchwoman has played more matches in Queens this year than any of the other women remaining in the draw—she came through three qualifying matches to earn her spot in the main draw, and is the only qualifier left in women’s singles. Over the course of the past two weeks, Ponchet hasn’t dropped a set, and has only been broken twice.
This is her first time beyond the first round at a Grand Slam tournament.
Ponchet has made six appearances in Grand Slam main draws, playing the Australian Open twice and Roland Garros four times, but she has always been bested in the first round. However, Ponchet is nothing if not determined—she lost in the first round of the US Open Qualifying Tournament five times, but came back this year to clinch one of the 16 qualifying spots in the main draw.
Her first-round match was her first tour-level win of 2024.
Currently ranked No. 143, Ponchet spends most of her time on the ITF World Tennis Tour circuit and plays some WTA 125s, the women’s equivalent of the ATP’s Challenger events. Prior to the US Open, she played in the main draws at Austin, Roland Garros and ‘s-Hertogenbosch, but fell to Diane Parry, Leylah Fernandez and Aleksandra Krunic, respectively, the first two of whom are Top 50 players.
Ponchet owns 10 ITF singles titles of various levels, and 14 doubles titles, in addition to a WTA 125 title, which she won alongside Maia Lumsden at Rouen in 2023.
She’s represented France in team competition.
In 2022, Ponchet wore the tricolor alongside Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Caroline Garcia, Arthur Rinderknech, Alize Cornet, Adrian Mannarino, Leolia Jeanjean and Manuel Guinard at the inaugural United Cup.
It was her first time representing France in team competition, but now that she’ll be knocking on the door of the Top 100 come the next rankings update, she could have another opportunity sooner rather than later.
“I'm super happy to be here,” she said. “Be[ing] here with a team, it's the first time for me I play [on] the team like this. I'm super happy and I'm going to support as much as [I] can. I think the team is wonderful.”
