Citi DC Open 2025: Jessica Pegula vs Leylah Fernandez preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (1) Jessica Pegula vs Leylah Fernandez

Date: July 23, 2025

Tournament: Mubadala Citi DC Open

Round: Second Round (Round of 16)

Venue: William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center, Washington, USA

Category: WTA 500

Surface: Hard

Prize Money: $ 1,282,951

Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Sky Sports | Canada - TSN

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Jessica Pegula vs Leylah Fernandez preview

In Picture: Pegula in action (Getty)

Top seed Jessica Pegula will begin her campaign at the 2025 Citi DC Open when she takes on Canada's Leylah Fernandez in the second round. She began the year with a runner-up finish in Adelaide and Miami and a title in Austin. Her win/loss record on hard courts for 2025 has been 20-6.

Pegula has won a clay-court title at Charleston and a grass-court title at the Bad Homburg Open, where she won against Sofia Kenin and Iga Swiatek in the respective finals. However, the American has had some upset losses at Majors, such as her 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 loss against Lois Boisson in the fourth round of the French Open and a 2-6, 3-6 loss against Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the first round of Wimbledon. Being the top seed, she received an opening-round bye in Washington

Leylah Fernandez has an even 17-17 win/loss record in 2025, with two quarterfinal finishes at Abu Dhabi and Nottingham. She lost 5-7, 6-4, 2-6 against Ashlyn Krueger in Abu Dhabi and lost 3-6, 6-7 (6) against Dayana Yastremska in Nottingham.

Fernandez did not have a great time on the natural surfaces, barring her one run in Nottingham, having a modest 6-9 record across the clay and grass seasons. The Canadian began her campaign at the Citi DC Open with a confident 6-3, 6-3 win over Maya Joint in the first round.

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Jessica Pegula vs Leylah Fernandez head-to-head

Pegula has a 2-0 head-to-head record against Fernandez, including a 7-5, 6-7 (1), 7-6 (3) win the last time they played at the Cincinnati Open last year.

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Jessica Pegula vs Leylah Fernandez odds

(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)

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Jessica Pegula vs Leylah Fernandez prediction

Pegula has 14 hard-court finals in her career, winning six titles on the surface on the WTA. Her Grand Slam breakthrough came on a hard court, as she reached the US Open final last year. She is a former champion in Washington, winning the title in 2019 with a win over Camila Giorgi in the final.

Like Pegula, Fernandez is a former US Open runner-up as well, finishing second to Emma Raducanu in New York in 2021. All of her three WTA titles have come on the hard courts, the last of which came at the Hong Kong Open in 2023, where she won against Katerina Siniakova.

Being a former champion and the current top seed, Pegula is the clear favorite to win the upcoming match.

Pick- Pegula to win in straight sets

Edited by Tushhita Barua