NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula has accomplished just about everything at her home Grand Slam, except walk away with the trophy.
The Buffalo native, seeded a career-best No. 3, continued her decade-long US Open title quest Wednesday with a dominating win over fellow American Sofia Kenin, 6-3, 6-1, to kick off the day’s action at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
But the early rounds have never been Pegula’s problem here in Flushing Meadows, and Wednesday was no different. The only real question was whether the 32-year-old would get off the court in less than an hour in this All-American second-round match.
Mission accomplished as she produced what she described in her on-court interview as a “pretty efficient” performance in beating the former Australian Open champion in just 56 minutes.
“I was happy with the way I played throughout the whole match,” Pegula said. “Out of there in under an hour, doesn’t always happen, so just take that one and run until the next round.
“Altogether, another solid match.”
On a cloud-filled day with the roof open despite early-morning sprinkles in Queens, Pegula — who was introduced to the still-arriving crowd as the “top American on tour” — pretty much ended any thought that this would be a real test by breaking Kenin in the opening game.
“I don’t tend to draw off the crowd too much, as in like too much positive energy or too much negative energy, so for me I’m just focused on myself and giving myself energy,” Pegula said of the sparse late-morning crowd. “I’m one of those players, even though I do draw off the crowd, at the same time I don’t want to get too high because then I feel I crash a bit.”
“But it is tricky when it’s not super full and you hear a lot of random noises, and especially on Ashe you kind of hear everything. So even when there is dead noise, there is still a buzz or a chatter, or people talking or eating, laughing and all these different emotions.”
A buzz that more resembled Grand Central during morning rush hour than the world’s biggest, brashest tennis stadium.
“You just really have to do a good job of locking yourself in a bubble when you are out there. But I love being first on, so to me it doesn’t really matter what the crowd is doing. I’m just there to do my job and get in and out as best I can.”
Kenin, 27, who bounced Venus Williams in first-round action late on Day 1, was once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world and had a magical 2020 campaign that included winning the Australian Open and then a runner-up finish at the French Open. But those lofty days are well in the rear-view mirror and Kenin, ranked No. 110, needed a wild-card entry to get into the main draw here.
Just two minutes into a match that saw the first ball struck at 11:44 a.m., it was clear this would not be a competitive one. Kenin was down 0-40 after just three points and then double-faulted on break point to fall into an early hole. Pegula quickly consolidated the break and was off and running. She broke again to finish off the opening set in just 30 minutes, 6-3.
Pegula, who reached the final here in 2024 before losing to Aryna Sabalenka, didn’t drop a set last year until losing to Sabalenka (notice the pattern?) in a three-set semifinal, then ran off five straight games to start the second set before finishing off the match, 6-1.
Pegula won 86% of her first-serve points, and 78% on her second serve. She didn’t face a break point against, while converting four of her eight chances to grab a game off Kenin’s shaky serve. She finished with 18 winners.
Wednesday’s rout follows Sunday’s opening-round win over Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse, 6-3, 6-2, in a match that lasted just 83 minutes.
Next up for Pegula will be Canadian lefty Leylah Fernandez, ranked No. 33, in a third-round match scheduled for Friday.
“She’s tough to play,” Pegula said when asked to look ahead to her next opponent. “She plays a little bit unorthodox, likes to use her forehand and take the ball super early and so when she is feeling it, it can be really tough to play against.”
But to claim the ultimate prize — a US Open championship and first career Grand Slam title — Pegula will need to figure out how to finally get the best of Sabalenka (who headlines Wednesday’s night session), the world’s best player. The two are lined up to face each other in the semifinals.
Maybe this is the year that the home-court advantage will carry the New Yorker to the top.