Jessica Pegula conqueror Moyuka Uchijima lost for words after crushing American's Madrid Open dreams

Moyuka Uchijima was over the moon after causing a sensational upset at the 2025 Madrid Open by taking out third seed Jessica Pegula. The Japanese clinched a shocking straight-set win in the third round to send the American packing.

World No. 56 Uchijima kicked off her campaign at the Madrid Open and clinched a resilient win over Robin Montgomery 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, following which she got a big win over 26th seed Ons Jabeur, by displaying a similar level of resiliency, with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 score. She set up a clash with third seed Pegula, who, after receiving a bye into the second round, defeated Eva Lys 6-2, 6-2 to start her campaign.

Though many would have thought the American would clinch a comfortable win against the 23-year-old, Uchijima shocked the tennis world by scoring a 6-3, 6-2 win in just an hour and 19 minutes to clinch the biggest win of her career.

During the on-court interview, it could be easily seen that Moyuka Uchijima was over the moon after her win over Jessica Pegula and reminisced about her win at an ITF event last year. Continuing her thoughts, she couldn't even figure out what round she had made it to after her win.

“I just still can’t believe I won. Madrid is one of my favorite cities. I won an ITF last year in Madrid. One year later, I’m here in the 3rd round? I don’t know which round I’m in.”

Uchijima has reached the fourth round of a WTA 1000 for the first time in her career and will continue her campaign against the winner of Ekaterina Alexandrova and Daria Kasatkina.

On the other hand, Pegula, who had a great start to her clay swing, has now suffered back-to-back quick exits.

How Jessica Pegula has fared at the clay swing 2025 so far

Jessica Pegula - Source: Getty

Jessica Pegula has the perfect start to her 2025 clay swing, which she kicked off as the top seed at the Charleston Open. The American defeated Iryna Shymanovich and Ajla Tomljanovic in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. She then scored back-to-back three-set wins over seventh seed Danielle Collins and ninth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova to reach the final.

She defeated a resurgent Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 to win the final. However, following that, she exited the Stuttgart Open in the quarterfinals, winning only a single match, and suffered another short campaign in Madrid.

Jessica Pegula is slated to compete at the Italian Open in Rome next, where she will hope to bounce back and gain momentum before the French Open.