World No. 3 Jessica Pegula picks Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and more to build her perfect player

Jessica Pegula has spent the past few years climbing to the top tier of women’s tennis, and now she’s imagined what the ultimate player would look like. The world No. 3 has offered a breakdown of the traits she’d take from the game’s all-time greats to create the perfect competitor, including shots from Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

In 2024, she sat down with the USTA’s podcast and shared her choices. “I would take Serena,” when asked about the serve. “It’s Serena or [John] Isner.” For the return of serve, Pegula gave a nod to one of her peers. “I would probably say Azarenka. I think she has a great return.”

On the forehand, Pegula went back a generation. “Probably Steffi [Graf], I guess. If I think of an iconic forehand.” When it came to the backhand, she offered a short but confident answer: “Oh, I would say Sharapova.”

She repeated the Russian’s name again when discussing mental toughness, saying, “I feel like she was very underrated—maybe not underrated, but to me, probably one of the best competitors.”

For net play, Pegula didn’t hesitate to go with one of the biggest WTA legends. “Martina Navratilova,” she said, adding her to the mix of legends that would round out the ideal player.

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Former World No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas picks Federer, Djokovic, Nadal to build perfect player

Pegula’s rise and strong 2025 season

Pegula reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in singles in October 2022 and became the top-ranked doubles player in September 2023. Last year, she reached the 2024 US Open final, losing to Aryna Sabalenka, who has also revealed her perfect player.

Meanwhile, she also made the doubles final at the 2022 French Open with Coco Gauff and the mixed doubles final at the 2023 US Open alongside Austin Krajicek. In singles, she has won nine singles titles, including three WTA 1000.

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She was World No. 1, won seven Grand Slams, caused a Wimbledon ‘scandal’, and is considered one of the greats

This season, Pegula reached finals in Adelaide and Miami, beating wildcard Alexandra Eala en route in Florida. She also secured a title in Charleston, defeating Sofia Kenin in the final, continuing her push to stay among the game’s elite.