Jessica Pegula is still in the four-player hunt for the World No. 1 ranking after the US Open — though the No. 3 seed had to pull off a gritty third-round comeback on Friday to keep her hopes alive.
In a matchup of former US Open finalists, 2024 runner-up Pegula defeated No. 31 seed and 2021 runner-up Leylah Fernandez 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in 2 hours and 11 minutes. She will need to win her first Grand Slam title this fortnight in order to rise to No. 1.
The 32-year-old advanced to the second week of her home major for the fifth year in a row, and for the 13th time at all Grand Slams. She also improved to 4-1 overall against Fernandez, including 2-0 in 2026 — though their Flushing Meadows tilt was rather more complicated than Pegula’s 6-2, 6-2 win at the same stage of Miami in March. It was her 11th win from a set down this season — a tour-leading record, joint with Coco Gauff.
“I always feel like it’s really tough to play her,” Pegula said in her on-court interview. “I never feel comfortable when I’m playing her, even when I’ve won, so I knew that today, especially with the way I started, I was going to have to dig deep. Really glad I was able to find something there, especially in the second set, to turn it around.
“I don’t really feel like I was in the first set, figuring out where I was going to serve and where I was going to hit the first ball. I do think she played a little bit different today than when I’ve played her in the past. I just wasn’t quite moving my feet up to the ball; I was just a little lazy to start off.”
How did Fernandez take the lead?
The Canadian delivered a watertight and tactically sound first set. She committed to her tactics of redirecting groundstrokes early and often, and moving up to net at the right moments — and managed to pull off this aggressive strategy while only making four unforced errors and without facing a break point.
By contrast, little was working for Pegula. She landed only 31% of her first serves, and wasn’t connecting on return either — usually a reliable punisher of second serves, she managed to win just two points on Fernandez’s second delivery. A ratio of 11 unforced errors to three winners compounded her woe.
What was the turning point?
At 2-2 in the second set, Fernandez held a point to move up a set and a break. But the 23-year-old netted a tame forehand to squander it, then on the next point tapped a volley down the middle, straight back to her opponent. Pegula seized the opportunity for the pass, then the hold, then the momentum shift.
The next game saw Fernandez deliver her most error-strewn series of points so far to drop serve for the first time, and she was then unable to take a further four break points as Pegula inched out to 5-2.
The end of the second set was the highest-quality passage of play, with both players seeking to out-maneuver each other with angles, spins and injections of pace. Fernandez managed to cut Pegula’s lead to 5-4, but the World No. 3’s backhand down the line came to the fore as she broke for the set in the final game.
The decider followed a similar pattern to the second set: Fernandez brought up the first break point chances at 1-1, but was unable to land a return on either. The decisive break of the set came in the very next game as she lapsed into error.
By now, Pegula’s serve was clicking: her first serve percentage was up to 58%, and she conceded just nine points behind her delivery throughout the third set. And her ratio of 10 winners to five unforced errors indicated how she’d turned her form around — while Fernandez leaked 11 unforced errors in the decider.
What’s next for Pegula?
In the fourth round, Pegula will face No. 16 seed Sorana Cirstea for the fifth time in a rivalry dating back to 2011. The 36-year-old Romanian has posted career-best results throughout 2026, a season she announced would be her last on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, and continued that pattern by coming from a break down in both sets to defeat No. 19 seed Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-3 for the first time in four meetings.
Cirstea advanced to the second week of the US Open for the second time — she was a quarterfinalist in 2023 — and for the seventh time overall on the major stage. Also a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros this year, Cirstea has made the second week of multiple Slams in a single season for the first time in her career.
Pegula holds a 3-1 head-to-head advantage over Cirstea, who has not won a match in the series since their first meeting in the 2011 Midland W100 first round. However, their most recent meeting — just two weeks ago in the fourth round of Cincinnati — was a barnburner that could have swung either way, Pegula eventually edging it 6-2, 4-6, 7-5.