WHAT HAPPENED: No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula toppled unseeded Mayar Sherif, rolling to a 6-0, 6-4 first-round victory to cap Sunday night’s play in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The American, who was a US Open and Grand Slam finalist for the first time last summer in New York, proved to be too strong and precise for Sherif in the first meeting between the players. It was a warm return for Pegula at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, where she experienced one of her career highlights last year despite bowing out in two tight sets in the final.
There was little doubt Pegula would prevail against Sherif, an Egyptian known more for her success on clay than on the hard courts.
Pegula was keen from the start, with her solid play and Sherif’s nerves combining for a quick first set. It took 22 minutes for Pegula to secure the opening frame. Sherif double-faulted to start the match and that was a clue of what was ahead as Pegula secured the first of her three first-set service breaks. Sherif never saw a break point in an opening set in which she won just eight points, including just one of 11 behind her first serve (9%).
“I was really happy that I started off really quick,’’ Pegula said. “I think coming out for the second night match, waiting all day, opening day, is nerve-wracking.
“So I’m glad I came out really fast and gave myself a nice cushion, I guess you could say. But then it flipped really quickly.”
Getting past Sherif was expected, as the Egyptian entered the match with a 1-12 hard-court singles record this year. But the crafty Sherif has also proven to be a tricky rival in Round 1 of the US Open; she took Karolina Pliskova to three sets, losing 7-5 in the third, in last year’s opening round.
Sherif rebounded to win the first game of the second set when Pegula’s backhand found the net. It was clear the underdog wasn’t surrendering as she attempted various avenues to get back in the match. That fortitude led to a 2-0 edge for Sherif when she converted her first break point, on her fourth chance, when Pegula missed a forehand.
“I didn’t think I was serving well enough on my first serves and I felt like I could get back in the second,’’ Pegula said. “I just needed to focus on my serve as I was getting close to breaking her a lot.”
Sherif's lead grew to 4-1, but Pegula snapped back into gear after staving off a break point in the next game. She closed the match with a run of five straight games, notching the final point by wrong-footing Sherif while blasting a forehand.
“I’m glad I was able to turn it around,’’ Pegula said, “and get it done in straight [sets].’’
WHAT IT MEANS: While Pegula’s parents are undoubtedly primed for the Buffalo Bills opener on Sept. 7, as they’re the team’s owners, seeing their daughter return to winning form at the US Open had to be equally exciting.
Pegula, a New York native, moves to Round 2 to face Anna Blinkova, progressing one round further than she did in her last Grand Slam outing at Wimbledon.
Pegula, a three-time winner on the WTA Tour for the first time this year, appears primed to again make another deep US Open run with her powerful game.
MATCH POINT: Pegula’s joyful reaction when exiting the court inside Arthur Ashe Stadium was in contrast to her last appearance there, when she fell in the 2024 singles final to Aryna Sabalenka.
With Pegula’s win on Sunday, she lifts her record to 53-26 in Grand Slam play and 19-8 at the US Open. She also collects momentum in what has been an uneven hard-court season, after notching just one win apiece in Montreal and Cincinnati.
Pegula was a finalist on the hard courts at Miami and Adelaide this year and won the WTA 250 on the same surface in Austin. That accompanied her other tournament conquests in Charleston (clay) and Bad Homburg (grass). She’s the first American to win titles on three surfaces in a season since Serena Williams in 2015.
