It’s a Nightmare on No.2 Court for Krueger as Pegula eases through to round 2

By Charlie Stong on No.2 Court at Wimbledon

Jessica Pegula (5, USA) bt Ashlyn Krueger (USA) 6-2, 6-0.

World number five and last year’s Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jessica Pegula got her 2024 campaign off  to the perfect start today, brushing aside fellow American Ashlyn Krueger in straight sets in just 49 minutes.

Pegula’s strength and guile helped her to a straightforward 6-2, 6-0 win over Krueger, who rarely troubled Pegula – and was her own worst enemy with a succession of unforced errors – mainly long groundstrokes – throughout.

Pegula settled immediately and raced into a 4-0 lead in the first set, those unforced errors costing Krueger early on.

She did at least manage to hold two service games to save the embarrassment of a 6-0 first set – saving two set points at 1-5 in the process.

But Pegula – who was defeated by eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova in the quarters last year – served out at 5-2, winning the set with an ace.

If the first set was over in a flash at 25 minutes, the second was even quicker – at 24 minutes.

Despite holding those two service games at the end of the first set, Krueger was still struggling with her depth – and wild groundstrokes on both the forehand and backhand sides were gifting the match to her opponent.

Pegula again raced into a 4-0 lead, Krueger then sacrificed another service game by netting at break point – and just like in the first set Pegula served out with an ace – and she will face either Wang Xiyu or Viktoriya Tomova in the second round.

Pictured top: Action from No.2 Court today (Picture: Charlie Stong)