Jessica Pegula is through to the third round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships with a win over Cristina Bucsa in the second round.
On Thursday, tournament fourth seed Jessica Pegula took on World No. 78 Cristina Bucsa in the second round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Pegula dished out 15 winners and served five aces throughout the match. She also claimed five breaks of serves while letting slip two of her own. Pegula required just over an hour to dismiss her Spanish opponent, doing so in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.
Incidentally, during one of her service games in the match, World No. 4 Pegula hit a serve long. Bucsa managed to return the serve, but Pegula did not attempt to chase the ball as she assumed her service to be a fault.
The line umpire, however, called the serve ‘in,’ thus granting Cristina Bucsa the point for her successful return. Jessica Pegula, unhappy with the call, challenged her own serve, which was in fact declared ‘out’ by the Hawkeye.
After the match, the 29-year-old reacted to the hilarious incident using a laughing emoji on social media. The challenge also caught the eye of Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs, who reacted similarly.
Jessica Pegula sets up clash with Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the third round of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships
Jessica Pegula is through to the third round of Wimbledon for the second year in a row. She has thus equaled her best result at the grasscourt Slam so far.
The 2023 Championships marks the American’s fourth main draw appearance at the tournament, with her first two attempts in 2019 and 2021 ending in first and second-round defeats, respectively.
Pegula is the fourth seed this time around, a feat she called “a dream.”
“Top 5 seed at Wimbledon is a dream, here to enjoy every second,” she wrote on her social media ahead of the Championships.
While the American made a promising display in the second round against Cristina Bucsa, she was challenged in the opening round by her compatriot Lauren Davis, who managed to force a decider after a hard-fought second-set tiebreak. Pegula eventually closed out the encounter 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-3.
Pegula is now slated to square off against Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the third round on Friday.
Cocciaretto, ranked World No. 43, is through to the third round after victories over Camila Osorio and Rebeka Masarova in the first and the second rounds, respectively.