Andrea Petkovic recently claimed Jessica Pegula looked “emotionally and mentally tired” during her shocking first-round outing at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. The WTA No. 3 came into this year’s edition of the grass Major on the back of her title triumph at the Bad Homburg Open. However, her SW19 campaign collapsed right at very beginning, as the American fell to World No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
The Italian’s big serves and fearless hitting left Pegula scrambling for solutions throughout the 58-minute clash. Ultimately, the nine-time career singles titlist came up short, as Cocciaretto registered an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 victory. The now-retired Andrea Petkovic, a WTA No. 9 in her prime, recently assessed the American’s subpar display on the day.
According to the German, Jessica Pegula and the other ousted top seeds in the 2025 Wimbledon Championships’ women’s singles first round, which included Coco Gauff, seemed “burned out” after a hectic few months of the jam-packed tennis calendar
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"Physically, she's such a fit player. Most of them, I don't think it's physically (tired), but I do think you get this kind of emotional tiredness. And granted, these tennis players are used to it, but I think we've seen it here a lot. There are a lot of players that look burned out, that have talked about being burned out. There are so many tournaments on the schedule," Petkovic said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
Gauff came into the grass season after an incredible title success of her own; her second Major singles crown at Roland Garros. Unfortunately, her time on grass this year was forgettable to say the least, as she played two matches and lost both.
Petkovic went on to highlight how there were signs at Wimbledon that indicated not all was well on a mental level for Pegula. Rennae Stubbs, Serena Williams' ex-coach, chimed in as well, bringing up the American's frustrated complaints about her rackets and strings after losing the first set to Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
"We've talked about it plenty of times. Jess (Pegula) is usually calm. Yes, she sometimes gestures and you see it on her face if you know her well, that's she's not happy. But she rarely ever shows outward emotion. You could see a lot in her yesterday, particularly after being a set down," Petkovic added.
"She was complaining about the rackets, the strings," Stubbs weighed in.
"Usually, you don't see that from her and I think those are typically signs for being emotionally and mentally tired," Petkovic concluded.
Meanwhile, Pegula herself opined in the aftermath of her stinging loss that she played reasonably well, but acknowledged Cocciaretto's superiority on the day.
"I definitely don't think I was playing bad" - Jessica Pegula on first-round display at Wimbledon 2025 that led to massive upset
At her post-match press conference, Jessica Pegula expressed her amazement at the level of tennis Elisabetta Cocciaretto played against her in the first round at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. The American though, didn't find many flaws in her own performance despite what the lopsided scoreline suggests.
"She played absolutely incredible tennis. Do I think I played the best match ever? No, but I definitely don't think I was playing bad. It wasn't like I was playing that bad. She just was hitting her shots and going for it, serving big, serving high percentage, going big second serves, redirecting the ball," Pegula said.
On the bright side for Jessica Pegula, her early exit from Wimbledon will allow her more time to reset and turn her attention to the North American summer hardcourt swing. During last year's swing, she triumphed at the Canadian Open and then went on to finish as runner-up at the Cincinnati Open followed by the US Open.
