Jessica Pegula returns to No. 3 in world rankings

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Jessica Pegula rose to No. 3 in the WTA world rankings Monday, matching her career-best position after she was runner-up at the U.S. Open.

Pegula, the 30-year-old born in Buffalo, moved up from No. 6 after reaching her first Grand Slam final. That followed Pegula's championship defense at the Canadian Open in Toronto, and a runner-up performance at the Cincinnati Open. Pegula won 15 of 17 matches during the late summer run, losing only against world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka.

“You're showing some amazing tennis,” Sabalenka told Pegula during the trophy ceremony at Flushing Meadows, “and I’m more than sure that, one day, you’re going to get one.”

Pegula spent much of 2023 at No. 3 in the WTA rankings. But she had been 0-6 in major quarterfinals before beating No. 1 Iga Swiatek at that stage this time around. That was followed by a semifinal victory in which Pegula came back from what she called an "embarrassing" first set to beat 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova in three. Then Pegula showed more mettle by pushing back in each set against Sabalenka, getting to 5-all in each after trailing 5-2 in the first and 3-0 in the second.

“Everyone is like, ‘Congrats! Amazing tournament!’ I’m like, 'Eh, whatever,” Pegula said. “I think maybe once I decompress a little bit, I’m sure I will be a little bit more appreciative and see all of that.”

“For sure, I will take a lot of confidence from this — in maybe like a hour or two —- because ... I’m kind of annoyed. Not even annoyed losing the tournament; it’s more just I was looking at it at, like, I just wanted to win the match,” Pegula said. “Now there's things that are just in my head that I feel I should have done better and stuff like that. But I think that will pass in a little bit.”

Sabalenka briefly supplanted Swiatek at No. 1 after finishing as the runner-up to Coco Gauff at last year's U.S. Open. Sabalenka is the only woman to collect more than one Grand Slam title in 2024; she won the Australian Open in January.

Last year's champions at Flushing Meadows both dropped Monday: Gauff went from No. 3 to No. 6 after being eliminated in the fourth round by Navarro, and Novak Djokovic slid from No. 2 to No. 4 after he was beaten in the third round by Alexei Popyrin.

After Swiatek, Sabalenka and Pegula, who went up three places to equal her career high, No. 4 Elena Rybakina and No. 5 Jasmine Paolini held their rankings. Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen stayed at No. 7, with Navarro next after going up from No. 13 with her best showing at a major tournament.

U.S. Open men's champion Jannik Sinner nearly doubled his lead as the ATP's No. 1 — a spot he's held since June. Alexander Zverev is the new men's No. 2, followed by Carlos Alcaraz at No. 3, with Daniil Medvedev remaining at No. 5 and Andrey Rublev staying at No. 6 ahead of U.S. Open runner-up Taylor Fritz, who moved up five spots after becoming the first American man to reach a major final in 15 years.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.