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World No. 3 Jessica Pegula was stunned in the third round of the 2025 Madrid Open by the 56th-ranked Moyuka Uchijima. The shocking result prompted several tennis fans to criticize and ridicule the American.
Pegula and Uchijima locked horns in the Spanish capital on Sunday, April 27. The American was the overwhelming favorite to win on paper. However, she made 46 unforced errors in the match, and Uchijima capitalized ruthlessly on her opponent's erratic display. Ultimately, the 23-year-old Japanese registered a 6-3, 6-2 victory. It marked Uchijima's first win over a WTA top 10 opponent in seven attempts.
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Tennis fans spanning X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit soon reacted to arguably the biggest upset of the 2025 Madrid Open so far. One fan suggested that Jessica Pegula is not making the most of the opportunity she has to replace rival Iga Swiatek at No. 2 on the WTA Tour rankings.
"Pegula is going out of her way to not overtake Iga at rank 2 wta," a fan wrote.
"Jessica Pegula can beat anyone can lose to anyone what a social experiment," commented another.
"Pegula like giving people their first top 10 wins. She also gave Raducanu hers lol," another fan chimed in.
Here are some more reactions to Pegula's shocking loss to Uchijima in Madrid:
"Truly a horrible day at the office for jpeg...i'll be curious to hear her thoughts on this match. coco had that ugly match in IW where she made 74 UE and 21 DF but at last she won that match...," wrote one fan, referring to Coco Gauff's second-round win over Uchijima at the 2025 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
"Pegula decided she's thru with Madrid. When you don't need the money you can be choosy. I'm usually very supportive of Jessica," added another.
"At least JPEG doesn’t have to worry about another Ekat matchup," yet another fan weighed in, referring to Pegula's defeat at the hands of Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals of the 2025 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Ahead of this year's claycourt swing, Pegula had expressed optimism at her chances of performing well on the dirt.
"I think I can do well on the clay too" - Jessica Pegula
After suffering a 5-7, 2-6 loss to World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final of this year's Miami Open, Jessica Pegula was asked about her thoughts on 2025's clay-court swing. Over the course of her long career, the 31-year-old has garnered a reputation for being a fierce competitor on hard courts. However, she was positive about her approach to the clay-court tournaments this year.
"I know I'm known more for being a hard-court player...but I think I can do well on the clay too. So hopefully, with some of those intangibles that I have added to my game, that can help me have a good clay season," Pegula said.
The 2025 Credit One Charleston Open marked Jessica Pegula's first clay-court event of the ongoing tennis season. The American won the WTA 500 title after defeating compatriot Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 in the final. Next, at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, she registered a quarterfinal loss to Ekaterina Alexandrova.
