Jessica Pegula leads a cohort of players into the quarterfinals that few outside the locker room were paying attention to before the tournament. In this intensely mental sport, that was a good thing.
MELBOURNE, Australia — Jessica Pegula does not land on many magazine covers. Her steady game does not produce a lot of highlight-reel moments. She is the world’s third-ranked player but has floated largely under the radar during her steady rise to the top of tennis.