Will Jessica Pegula end the curse that began after the 2022 Australian Open?

At the 2022 Australian Open, Ashleigh Barty claimed the trophy before announcing her surprise retirement at the age of 25 as world No. 1. Since then, 10 Grand Slam tournaments have been played. All of them have been won by the four great players of the last 2.5 years (Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff) or by Czech tennis players (Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova).

Swiatek has added the most, with a total of 4. She already had one previously which was Roland Garros 2020. In Paris she has won three more times and also took the US Open 2022. In the finals she has beaten Coco Gauff herself, Ons Jabeur, Karolina Muchova and Jasmine Paolini. She has established herself as the mistress of the circuit after Barty's retirement from the competition.

But she has not been the only one to triumph. Sabalenka has won the last two editions of the Australian Open, defeating Elena Rybakina and Qinwen Zheng respectively. She also reached the final of the US Open 2023, where she lost to Coco Gauff. The Belarusian is the most regular player in the most prestigious events of the year, being the one who has reached the final rounds more times in this span of time.

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Rybakina lifted the title at Wimbledon 2022 after beating Ons Jabeur in three sets and was runner-up at the Australian Open 2023. The Kazakh is one of the most reliable tennis players when it comes to big matches but the reality is that constant injuries and illnesses have clearly slowed her progression and prevented her from reaching more Grand Slam finals.

Coco Gauff was a prophet in her own land and won the US Open 2023 by beating Sabalenka in the final in a decisive set. In these two years and a little bit she was also a finalist at Roland Garros in 2022, succumbing to the all-powerful Iga Swiatek on Parisian clay. This season was the first of the last three that she has failed to reach a title match.

Finally, Czech women have dominated Wimbledon on the last two occasions. Marketa Vondrousova beat Ons Jabeur in 2023 and Barbora Krejcikova did the same with Jasmine Paolini in this 2024. Now Jessica Pegula has the chance to end this "curse" at the US Open, but she will face a woman who is playing great tennis and will want to avoid it.

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"I have been [to the quarterfinals] so many freakin’ times. I just kept losing." Jessica Pegula shares main delight after ending Grand Slam hoodoo at US Open