Tour’s biggest winner, still no major: Pegula makes a clean start in New York

Jessica Pegula opened her tenth US Open with the kind of win the numbers said she would produce, the American No. 3 seed beating Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday evening for her 46th victory of the season, more than any other woman on tour.

It was also her 30th hard-court win of 2026, another figure nobody on the WTA has matched. She has reached five finals this year, more than any other player, winning in Dubai and on the clay at Charleston and finishing runner-up at Cincinnati, Washington and Berlin. She would leave New York as World No. 1 if she wins the title and Elena Rybakina fails to reach the semi-finals.

What the volume has not produced is a Grand Slam. Pegula reached the Australian Open semi-finals in February and the Wimbledon quarter-finals, and lost in the first round at Roland-Garros to Kimberly Birrell, ranked No. 83, the only defeat on a 15-1 record against players outside the top 50 this year. She has 11 career titles and no major, and her runner-up finish here in 2024, to Aryna Sabalenka, remains her best.

Ruse is having the best season of her career, with 14 tour-level wins before Sunday and three career wins over top-10 players. It counted for little. Pegula has taken 20 of her last 22 Grand Slam first rounds. She next plays the winner of the all-American wild-card match between Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin.