Pegula undone by evening conditions but has no doubts about calibre

MELBOURNE, Jan 29 : Jessica Pegula said playing her first evening session match at this year's Australian Open had thrown her off her game early in her semi-final defeat by fifth seed Elena Rybakina.

The 31-year-old American arrived for the clash on Rod Laver Arena having not lost a set throughout the tournament but wilted under the lights of the showcourt on Thursday before going down fighting 6-3 7-6(7).

"I've been playing every match during the day. It's playing much hotter, much faster. Getting out there it was a nice night, cool, but very slow. It took me a while to get my feet under me," Pegula told reporters.

"My timing was really off for a while and it's hard against someone that hits as big as she does. She adapted quicker and was hitting that big, heavy ball at me ... I was making a lot of errors, not staying through my shots as well as I could have.

"Then I think I finally started to find my timing a bit and play a lot better. So the conditions for sure ... I was a little erratic in the beginning, overthinking it a little bit too and not just trusting the things that I had been doing as well."

Despite her maiden last-four appearance at Melbourne Park ending in disappointment, Pegula said she was in no doubt about her quality after reaching back-to-back Grand Slam semi-finals on hardcourts after her inspired run at last year's U.S. Open.

"It's tough, I had an amazing tournament here," she said.

"I played some really good tennis, beat a lot of really good players, put up a fight tonight, but obviously I want to win the tournament. That always sucks when you don't.

"So though my experience over the last couple of years has made me feel a lot more comfortable at this stage. I've made two slam semi-finals back to back, I