"Personification of perseverance and determination meeting tremendous talent" - Tennis commentator Steve Weisman congratulates Jessica Pegula on her maiden WTA 1000 title win
On Sunday, No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula defeated No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-2, 6-3 in the Guadalajara Open Akron final to claim her first WTA 1000 title.
In a top-10 matchup where both players were vying for their maiden WTA 1000 crown, their first title of the year, and the second of their careers, Pegula emerged victorious with consistent depth and power, completing the win in just 70 minutes.
Jessica Pegula is a WTA 1000 champion.
The 28yo American wins #GDLOPENAKRON defeating Elena Rybakina (saved 3MPs), Bianca Andreescu, Sloane Stephens, Victoria Azarenka, & Maria Sakkari, 62 63. Lost one set all week.
Biggest title of Pegula's career. She'll be No.3 on Monday. https://t.co/7rLHOoskYy
In view of this, renowned tennis commentator Steve Weissman took to Twitter to congratulate the American on her success.
"Congratulations to @JLPegula on winning the biggest title of her career and reaching another career-high! The personification of perseverance and determination meeting tremendous talent. Plus, everyone likes her. Can’t wait to see Jess @WTA Finals in Ft. Worth!" Weissman wrote.
Can’t wait to see Jess @WTA Finals in Ft. Worth! 
🏼Congratulations to @JLPegula on winning the biggest title of her career and reaching another career-high! The personification of perseverance and determination meeting tremendous talent. Plus, everyone likes her 😀 Can’t wait to see Jess @WTA Finals in Ft. Worth! 🎾🇺🇸💪🏼
"I'm so happy it was at a 1000 event, just super proud of myself" - Jessica Pegula
At her post-match press conference, Jessica Pegula revealed that she was delighted her victory came at a WTA 1000 tournament. She went on to express pride in herself for controlling her emotions and nerves during the final.
"I feel amazing. I mean, there's not really much else to say. I won the tournament. I'm so happy it was at a 1000 event. All the people I beat, my draw to get here in my opinion was honestly the toughest out of everybody. So I was a little annoyed when I saw the draw come out. But the way I've been able to manage it throughout the whole week, today handle my nerves and emotions, just super proud of myself," Pegula said.
The 28-year-old went on to describe how Kim Pegula, her mother, used to joke that her daughter was her first sports team. She also dedicated the victory to her mother.
"My mom always kind of joked I was the first sports team as far as helping me with my tennis career growing up," Pegula continued. "I definitely wanted to dedicate it to her. She's had a really tough year. I know she was watching. I'm sure she appreciated that. Usually she gets very nervous watching, so it's special she got to watch me all week. That's really cool. I'm sure she was still very nervous."
When asked about her further goals, the American responded that the WTA Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup would now be the focus of her attention.
"Well, I still have WTA Finals and I have Billie Jean King Cup coming up the next couple weeks, for the rest of the month basically. So I'm just really going to focus on that," Jessica Pegula said.