Her win makes her the second lowest-ranked player to ever make it to the Last 16 of the French Open in the Open Era.
“I think the third round is always tough because you very often meet a seeded player, and that was the World No. 3, so that was going to be a tough one,” said Mertens. “I think I was mentally prepared to fight.”
She took down Pegula in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 in a match that lasted 1 hour and 22 minutes. The two now have a head-to-head record of 3-0 in Mertens’ favor.
Pegula was a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros last year. Her training this year had been hampered by a bout of food poisoning. Her time in Paris is not yet through though as she is still in the doubles matches alongside Coco Gauff.
The two of them have made it to the second round. Last year, they made it all the way through the finals and in the Australian Open this year, they were in the semifinals.
She was the 21st-seeded female player to exit the draw.
“I feel like I was still playing good points. Elise was just being really tough, not making a lot of errors and making me play every single ball. And with the windy conditions, I felt like it definitely played into her game,” said Pegula.
“She returned well and I thought that she used the wind on both sides to her advantage,” Pegula added.
“She was playing aggressive on the side with the wind and then, against the wind, I think she was playing some really good defense.”