Pegula overcomes slow start to reach the third round of the Miami Open

MIAMI -- The past two years, Jessica Pegula won her first four matches at the Miami Open to advance to the semifinals. And while she lost there, respectively, to Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina, Pegula came away buoyed by her performances.

“Obviously,” she told reporters on Tuesday, “pretty good memories, tennis-wise.”

On Saturday, Pegula was very much present, advancing to the second round when Zhu Lin retired with an illness while trailing 6-4, 4-1.

She’ll try to win back-to-back matches at a WTA 1000 for the first time since last summer when she plays Leylah Fernandez, the 2021 US Open finalist Monday.

The two have practiced, but never played.

“I wouldn’t say we’re, right this second, today, playing the best tennis of our careers, but we’re capable of that,” Pegula said. “Both of us have a lot of experience in those [big match] situations. We know how to work through matches, we both know how to compete through those circumstances."

Pegula was scheduled to play this match Friday until rain intervened. She came out sluggish, losing the first three points on her serve -- but rallied to escape with the first game. Zhu, a 30-year-old from China who is ranked No.63, held and broke Pegula in her next service game to take a 3-1 lead.

Pegula leveled the match at 3-all and scored the decisive break to take the set 6-4, converting her second set point.

The American won 59 of 99 points -- and served well, winning 77 percent of her first serves.

Pegula has spent a good deal of time at the Hard Rock Stadium, both as a player and a spectator. 

Since her parents, Terry and Kim, bought the team in 2014, the Bills have carved out a respectable 6-4 record in Miami. They managed to beat the Dolphins 21-14 in this year’s regular-season finale on Jan.7. Sadly, Pegula missed it -- she was in Australia, preparing for the Adelaide International.

It’s time of transition for Pegula, who parted ways with David Witt, her coach of more than four years, during the offseason. She’s working with Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein, still working out some kinks.

“I felt a little bit on auto-pilot for the last year or so, where I was just playing a lot,” Pegula told reporters on Tuesday. “I felt like I was part of a process. I wanted to fall back into that feeling of loving the process of what I’m doing. 

“Obviously, I’m very appreciative of everything David and I accomplished, which was amazing. I wouldn’t change that for anything. I’m excited about the challenge of doing something different.”

Pegula has been focusing on serving, the transition game and volleys, trying to use her slice more -- all familiar areas.

“It’s just fine-tuning certain things, things I feel I can do just a little bit better,” she explained. “Or things I do well and just trying to get more comfortable using them in a match.”

She spent a week in February with Knowles in Dallas -- and it wasn’t all strictly tennis.

“Just getting to know each other on the court, which is the biggest part of it,” she said. “What I like, and what I don’t like. What cues work, what don’t. What I respond well to. There’s definitely been a learning curve a little bit, but it’s part of the process.”

Neither Knowles nor Merklein -- both former ATP Tour players who were born in the Bahamas -- has ever worked on the women’s side of tennis.

“I really didn’t want someone I felt like has been recycled through a lot of players,” Pegula said afterward. “There’s a lot of those, and they may be great coaches, but I want someone who’s a little bit different. It’s not rocket science and they say `OK, I see the difference.’

“It’s a little bit different, but at the same times we’re all athletes trying to learn how to win. I appreciate the mentality they have and the experience -- and the confidence.”