Jessica Pegula as world number one? The US Open offers Americans a golden chance to make history

Jessica Pegula has more than her first Grand Slam title in her sights at the 2026 US Open. The American has a real opportunity to climb to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time and dethrone Aryna Sabalenkova, but the equation is challenging.

Pegula will become world No. 1 if she wins the US Open and Elena Rybakina, currently No. 2, fails to reach the semifinals.

Such a result would give Pegula the biggest scoring success of her career and make her the oldest world number one in WTA history. The current record is held by Germany’s Angelique Kerber, who first reached the summit at 28 years and 238 days in September 2016.

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Thirty-two-year-old Pegula thus has a remarkable piece of history within his reach in New York. But the immediate task is to win and she started strongly at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

PEGULA GETS NERVES TO BEAT THE RUSSIANS

The third-seeded American opened her campaign with an impressive 6-3, 6-2 victory over Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse. Pegula broke the Russian twice in each set to complete the win in straight sets, although the score did not tell the full story of the match.

Pegula had some initial nerves to overcome, but quickly settled into her rhythm and took control with her ground game. Once she established a lead, she rarely gave Ruse an opportunity to gain sustained momentum.

The victory also continues what has been a strong campaign for Pegula in 2026. Earlier this year, she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open for the first time and followed that up with the Dubai title, her fourth WTA 1000 crown.

But now the stakes are considerably higher.

Pegula has already reached the US Open final, finishing runner-up to Aryna Sabalenko in 2024, but the world number three is still chasing her first Grand Slam singles title.

With Rybakina also entering New York with fitness concerns after withdrawing from the quarterfinals in Cincinnati with an ankle injury, the ranking battle could develop into one of the biggest stories of the tournament.

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Issued by:

sabyasachi chowdhury

Published on:

31 Aug 2026 01:07 IST