"It's kind of crazy, Coco Gauff and I talked about it in doubles" - Jessica Pegula on Iga Swiatek losing her World No. 1 ranking to Aryna Sabalenka

Jessica Pegula recently said Iga Swiatek losing her WTA World No. 1 ranking was "crazy," but added that Aryna Sabalenka deserved to take over the top spot.

Swiatek's 2023 US Open exit at the hands of Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round has assured Sabalenka the top spot in the WTA rankings.

The Pole had begun her title defense in New York with a live ranking of World No. 2 and 7955 ranking points to her name. Sabalenka, on the other hand, made a semifinal exit from the US Open in 2022 and entered the tournament this year with a live ranking of World No. 1 and 7966 ranking points to her name.

With the Belarusian leading Swiatek by 11 points in the live rankings, she needed to match the latter's performances to remain ahead of her in the ranking charts. Swiatek's unexpected early exit from the tournament has now guaranteed a change at the top of the rankings by the end of the US Open.

When the subject was brought up at her press conference, Pegula expressed surprise at the shift since Swiatek has been performing well in every tournament.

"Yeah, it's kind of crazy. Coco Gauff and I talked about it in doubles. We're like, it's kind of weird because, I mean, Iga still made second week, she's still been going deep in every tournament and doing well. It wasn't enough to keep her there. That's crazy," she said.

"Coco is like, 'I don't know what more she could have done?' I was like, 'I guess win the tournament again'. That's it," Pegula added.

Pegula went on to say that Sabalenka has also been performing well on the WTA tour, and that she was deserving of the World No. 1 ranking.

"It's hard when Aryna has had good results in all of the Slams and a lot of the big tournaments. Yeah, I think it's well-deserved. I think she's been knocking on the door for quite a while. It's nice to see that change and see her get rewarded for how well she's been playing, her consistency, especially in the slams," she said.

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Jessica Pegula's US Open 2023 run comes to an end at the hands of Madison Keys in 4R

Jessica Pegula in action at the 2023 US Open.

Jessica Pegula's run at the 2023 US Open came to a surprising end on Monday. The American lost in straight sets to compatriot Madison Keys in the fourth round, exiting the tournament with a 6-1, 6-3 defeat.

Pegula, the third seed in New York this year, went into the match with an 11-2 win-loss record in the North American hardcourt swing, which included the Canadian Open title.

Over the same period, Keys registered a 6-2 record and even dealt with a hip issue that forced her to withdraw from the Canadian Open. However, the form book was thrown out of the window when the compatriots locked horns at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The 17th seed dropped just four games as she wrapped up a dominant win in just 61 minutes.

Next up for Keys is a quarterfinal clash with Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who came from a set down to defeat Peyton Stearns 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-2 in the Round of 16.