Pegula withdraws from Rome, remains doubtful for French Open

Jessica Pegula has admitted she might not make it to the French Open this month having not played since the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers earlier in April.

Pegula won both her matches at the BJK Cup in Orlando, beating Sofia Costoulas in three sets and Hanne Vandewinkel more convincingly in straight sets for the loss of just two games.

But she has missed the entire European clay court season since then, pulling out of Stuttgart, Madrid and now Rome.

If she does recover in time to make it to Paris, Pegula will be heading into the second slam of the season very short of clay court practice, having not played on that surface since Charleston.

“Hi guys – quick update – will miss Rome and possibly RG. I actually feel really good but have to work back into training at a snail’s pace,” Pegula wrote on Instagram.

She hasn’t confirmed the nature of her injury, but she did miss the Middle East swing after the Australian Open earlier this season with a neck problem.

It has been a tricky start to the year for Pegula after a very strong finish to 2023, with a second round exit in the Australian Open not how she would have hoped her year would begin.

She exited in Indian Wells at an early stage as well, before a resurgence of form saw her make the quarter finals in Miami, losing to Ekaterina Alexandrova.

A strong showing in Charleston on the green clay followed – but since then, Pegula has only played two singles matches against the Belgian pair in the Billie Jean King Cup.

The French Open gets under way in just over two weeks’ time, with clay set to play a more important part in this season than usual, with the Olympics also staged at Roland-Garros.

Pegula reached the third round in Paris last season, losing to Elisa Mertens and has never been past the quarter finals there.