New York, Sep 11: World No. 3 Jessica Pegula heaped praise on Aryna Sabalenka following her loss to the two-time defending US Open champion in the semifinal and opined that this was the best level she saw from the Belarusian and wondered who pissed Sabalenka off for playing the way she did at the Arthur Ashe Stadium against her.
"I think that is probably the best match she's played this year. I thought her level was insanely high," Pegula said in the post-match press conference following her 5-7, 2-6 loss to Sabalenka.
"Maybe she felt a little bit off in the beginning. We both were playing well, serving well. And then, I don't know who pissed her off today. Hopefully it wasn’t me, totally; it might’ve been. I don't know; she played insane. She played at a super high level. Honestly, I don't really know if there was much I could do today.
Pegula reflects on missed chances
Pegula had her chances in the first set, but could not find the big points and the break points against the two-time US Open champion. "I had some chances, but she kept finding ways to hit some really good shots on big points. She made good second serves. I honestly don't know if she missed a backhand in the entire match. Maybe a few backhand returns in the beginning and then she just dialled in," she said.
"I didn't play bad. I think I've actually played worse against her before, but I think that level was the highest I've seen from her, considering I don't think I played bad at all," she added.
Sabalenka's aggressive game plan
Pegula highlighted that Sabalenka might have come out in the semifinal with a clear goal of controlling the points as the former World No. 1 set things up with her serve and return. "Probably that's her game plan. She doesn't want to ever feel like the other person's really dictating. She's much better, I think, playing her first one-two strike tennis: serve, return, return, next ball. That's what she does best, and I think I've been playing pretty well.
"And I think I, maybe in the past, have been able to move her a bit more. But I think her goal, I don't know if it was today, but it was just to not let me control the points. And she did a very good job of that, especially off serve, return, first ball," she added.
Pegula accepts Sabalenka’s level
Pegula emphasised she wasn't very upset about the loss as she felt Sabalenka was on another level and revealed the light-hearted time with Sabalenka's team after the game.
"I'm honestly not that upset, to be honest because I don't really think there was much I could have done today. I mean, we joked with her team. We're like, do you think, like, do you like us? Like, we're good people. Like, we're pretty nice to you guys. Like, do you think that maybe, like, one day she could be maybe off, like, a little bit, so I could just, like, get a chance?
"That was pretty much our attitude after the match. Because, as I said, she played an insanely high level. I think probably one of her better matches this year for sure. And, yeah, that was it. It just didn't feel like there was a lot. I mean, I, of course, tried to stick around to see if the level would go off. But it seemed like it just got better as the match went on," Pegula said.
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Previous win may have motivated Sabalenka
She added that maybe her last win against Sabalenka in the Grass Court Championships Berlin, especially the 6-0 victory in the third set, may have made Sabalenka "pissed off at me today."
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
