BNP PARIBAS OPEN

October 8, 2021

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

J. PEGULA/S. Stephens

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Jessica, can you talk us through your match tonight.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yes, my match tonight I thought I played just really clean, not a lot of unforced errors. I guess just sticking to my game plan and really executing it really well. I think that's really important playing someone like Sloane. I thought I just did that honestly to a T, which is good.

Yeah, I was hitting the ball well, hitting the ball clean, moving well, and as was able to close it out there in the end.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Entering into the homestretch the season, where is your head at with respect to the Finals? Are you thinking about your ranking? Where is your head?

JESSICA PEGULA: I'm currently, like, gluing my freaking nails on with super glue right now. That's where I'm at honestly. I just spilled stuff on my shirt. This is where I'm at. Last tournament of the year, besides Billie Jean King Cup, last tournament of the year, I'm starting to lose it.

No, like, I had a little kind of not break, but in between US Open and Chicago I got to reset a little bit. Played a couple good matches there. Lost to Ons, who has been playing really well. Lost to her in three sets.

I came in here feeling pretty confident. I'm getting married the 22nd. I don't know what day it is today, but soon after that. Honestly I'm kind of playing, just want to compete really well and kind of go day by day. Really just not give in, just fight, really tough it out.

After this I'm going to go get married, then play Billie Jean King Cup. It's really a good ending to a year, so I'm just trying to have fun with it.

Q. How involved are you in the wedding process? Is it easy to focus on tennis at the moment?

JESSICA PEGULA: So we postponed a year. Everything was kind of already planned from last year. It's actually been a lot more fun this year because all we've really had to do is just look forward to doing it, whereas last year it was a lot more stressful with the plans.

I have a wedding planner. My mom, honestly, loves to plan anything, events, parties. Literally she'll be there. I don't know where she finds the time, but she'll be there like till 3 a.m. gluing stuff, printing things out. She literally does things by hand.

People are like, You're insane, where do you find the time? She does all that, so honestly it's been mostly here. I haven't been that much of a Bridezilla. I picked a couple things. There's a couple things I wanted. Other than that, it's kind of been all my mom. It's been nice because I've been traveling a lot.

Q. This is the last WTA 1000 of the season. You've been fantastic in your performances and consistent at this level. What is it about the 1000s that bring out some of your best tennis?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, that's true. I don't really know why that is. I think just because -- I think I just have been getting a lot of wins there now. I'm just confident at this level. I'm confident I can go deep at these tournaments. Hopefully I can continue to go deeper consistently.

But I don't know. I think it's just more of a belief in myself that, Okay, now I'm seeded, now I feel good about my first couple rounds. I feel like I should be there, I should be winning. Not that that's always going to happen, but I think that's maybe the difference after kind of breaking through in Australia that kind of has gotten me over that hump a little bit where I feel confident.

Obviously being seeded always helps. That definitely helps. You get a couple matches under you before you play someone that's seeded. That's always nice.

But I think it's just a little bit more self-belief out there.

Q. You have been together with your coach about two years now. A nice progression during that time. What is he bringing to the table? What kind of goals have you set?

JESSICA PEGULA: This year we've just really taken it I think one match at a time. I think at the same time we do like to talk about -- not put pressure on myself with goals, but little goals, like trying to make the Olympics or playing Billie Jean King Cup or even the year-end Finals.

We like to look at the rankings, play games. Okay, this person moves this spot, you move above them, then you're... Just little things like that just to make it fun and always kind of give yourself goals. I think we've kind of done that throughout the year.

But at the same time we're always taking it one match at a time. I think he just sort of brings a little bit of confidence with him because he's so laid back, but at the same time he's very confident in my abilities, where I can go. I think he's just brought that onto me and onto my team and everything.

I don't think I've ever really experienced that. I think other coaches always believed in me, but for some reason I think I got a lot fitter, I got healthy, then starting with him he just kind of brought a little bit of more self-belief to me. I'm not sure why. I don't really know why. I guess it just works. Yeah, I'm just going to go with that.