Well, that wasn’t in the script! Jessica Pegula, the top seed and tournament favorite at the Strasbourg Open, has been dramatically ousted by Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya in a result that sent tennis fans scrambling to double-check the scoreline. It wasn’t a fluke or a lucky break — Kalinskaya came in with confidence, played with poise, and walked off with one of the biggest wins of her career.
Pegula, known for her consistency and no-nonsense baseline game, never quite found her rhythm on the French clay. From the outset, Kalinskaya was firing winners, moving smoothly, and making the American work for every point. The first set saw Kalinskaya break early and hold on with nerves of steel. Pegula, typically the picture of calm, looked uncharacteristically rattled as unforced errors crept into her game. The second set? More of the same. Kalinskaya smelled blood and didn’t let up.
For Pegula, this was supposed to be a tune-up ahead of the French Open — a chance to fine-tune her game, rack up some wins, and glide into Roland-Garros with momentum. Instead, she’s heading to Paris with a big question mark hanging over her clay-court form. Could the pressure of top-seed expectations be weighing heavier than we thought?
Meanwhile, Kalinskaya deserves every bit of the spotlight. She didn’t just beat Pegula — she outplayed her. From crafty drop shots to laser-like forehands, it was a complete performance. And let’s be honest, no one saw this coming. If Kalinskaya keeps playing like this, she could be a dark horse heading into the Slam season.
One thing’s certain: the Strasbourg Open just got a whole lot more interesting — and Jessica Pegula will have some serious regrouping to do. The road to Roland-Garros just took a wild turn.
