Third Seed Jessica Pegula Faces Shock Exit in Wimbledon 2025 Opener

In a surprising turn of events at Wimbledon 2025, American tennis player Jessica Pegula, the tournament's third seed, suffered a disappointing first-round exit, marking what she described as her "worst result of the year." Pegula was defeated in straight sets by Italy's Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who is ranked 113 places lower than her at 116 in the WTA rankings. The match, which took place on June 27, 2025, ended with a score of 6-2, 6-3, concluding in just 58 minutes on Court 2.

Pegula, aged 31, acknowledged her subpar performance and expressed frustration, stating, "This is definitely probably the worst result I’ve had all year. I’ve been winning lots of matches. It’s just all about it having to come together for two weeks. Sometimes it doesn’t quite all align when you need it to." Despite her recent success of winning the title at Bad Homburg in Germany, Pegula's struggles at Grand Slam tournaments have been significant. She has only advanced past the quarter-final stage once in her career, during the 2024 US Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the final. Since then, she has exited in the early rounds of all three Grand Slam tournaments.

This first-round defeat at Wimbledon represents Pegula's worst performance in a major tournament since her early exit at the 2020 French Open. "I haven’t lost first round of a Slam in a very long time, so that sucks," Pegula remarked post-match. "It’s disappointing. I don’t know how else to put it. I’m upset that I wasn’t able to turn anything around."

Cocciaretto, 24, capitalized on Pegula's errors, converting a series of mistakes into a decisive victory. Notably, Pegula made 24 unforced errors and struggled with her service game, failing to secure a single break point throughout the match. Her performance starkly contrasted her previous encounter with Cocciaretto at Wimbledon 2023, where she secured a comfortable 6-4, 6-0 win.

Following the match, Pegula expressed her disappointment and the challenges of maintaining consistency at high-stakes tournaments. "I used to kind of have trouble getting past the first round for a while. I remember I had a really tough match and I just told myself, I’m done losing first round, I’m not losing first round," she added, reflecting on her past struggles.

The implications of Pegula's exit are significant not only for her personal rankings but also for the competitive landscape of women's tennis, where emerging players like Cocciaretto are rapidly making their mark. As the tournament progresses, Pegula's early exit raises questions about her ability to contend at the highest levels of the sport. Only time will tell how she will bounce back from this unexpected setback and whether this will impact her approach in future tournaments.