US OPEN

August 23, 2024

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome. You won Canada. Can you give us your thoughts on the US Open.

JESSICA PEGULA: What a lead-in question. Yeah, I mean, it was great. Was able to obviously put together a couple really good past weeks here, defend the title in Toronto, which was really awesome. Just happy to be in New York and see if I can just keep that momentum going at my home slam would be amazing. That's my goal.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Shelby just announced this will be her last US Open, you guys are playing in the first round. Curious what your thoughts were on the news and if you had any fun memories with Shelby over the years.

JESSICA PEGULA: It sucks having to play her. She kind of told me before, and I didn't know if she was going to announce it or not. Then I saw, obviously, I think this morning she announced it. I saw her this morning, too. It's crazy to me that, like, obviously I know she had a lot of injuries, but to see people, like, my age retiring, her, Danielle, it's sad.

Yeah, Shelby and I go way back. We were battling at Georgia, like, Southern sectional 16-and-unders and now we're playing in the US Open. Obviously she's had amazing results here too and has been a top player.

But it's pretty crazy and I think cool in the same way to say that we were playing at all these crazy sectional tournaments. And, yeah, being able to end your career at the US Open and play each other, it's pretty amazing when you look at it that way.

Yeah, it's a bummer. I don't like having to play any American, especially here. Yeah, that part kind of sucks, but at the same time, at least it comes full circle in some way or another. I hope she's looking forward to what's coming after.

Q. Obviously you seem in very good form lately but a lot of players maybe since the Olympics don't. The schedule has been kind of hard for people to readjust. Is it hard? Do you have a sense maybe some years it's easier to tell who's ready to win now versus this year, or does that stuff matter going into it?

JESSICA PEGULA: I feel like it does and then it also doesn't. We've seen people all the time surprise us every single week, every single tournament, every slam. Sometimes there's no rhyme or reason why someone maybe does well and then there are some people you see they're having momentum or see they're playing well here or they have a good draw or good matchups and they do really well.

So I don't know if it really matters. I think sometimes it doesn't make any sense. So yeah, I think it's a little tricky this year people coming from Paris. People are just a little bit maybe, I don't know, not as prepared, just with the surface change as well.

But I don't know. I think once you get here and if you've had good results here especially or you like the hard courts or whatever it is, I think the players that, you know, play well here will find a way to do that I think no matter what.

Yeah, I think it just, I don't know, I guess is my answer.

Q. What was the secret to being pretty darn good about that transition from the Olympics to Canada to Cincinnati?

JESSICA PEGULA: It was funny. So today I was hitting and Marcos Giron was, like, he stayed in the Village, right, and we got a lot of crap because there were some people that stayed in the Village and some people that didn't. I was one of the people that opted to leave the Village earlier before the tournament. And Marcos was like, we wanted short-term glory at the Village, but he's like, maybe you made the better long-term decision. Maybe staying at the hotel made you crush it the next couple weeks because we've all sucked since then. I was like, yeah, maybe I'll look at it that way. I went for the long-term gain instead of the short-term.

But other than that, I don't know. I mean, I wasn't feeling that great going into Toronto. You know, it was a tough transition, but, I don't know, I was able to find my game. Even though I don't think I played great, I think I was just competing and felt comfortable on the hard courts. I've always played well there, so I think that also helped, knowing that I had a little extra confidence, knowing the conditions and stuff I like there, and I was able to kind of use that maybe to get through a couple of matches, too.

Q. The balls that have been used here have been a talking point the last couple of years, Regular Duty, wondered your thoughts on that.

JESSICA PEGULA: People ask me about the balls. I don't know. I don't really seem to like any of the balls, that's what girls tell me. They're like, yeah, but, Jess, you don't like any of them. I'm like, yeah, I don't. I'm the wrong person to ask.

I know there was a lot of injuries and stuff last year so we switched back. So it will be interesting to see if that gets cut down this year. Other than that, we tried it last year, it didn't seem like the majority wanted it back, so we switched back.

I haven't played with the Regular Duty in my whole life. It doesn't seem like that much of a change to me.

Q. A little bit of a different question. Obviously we're here in New York City, but tennis-wise, you're the pride of Buffalo. What would you tell me, what makes Buffalo so cool?

JESSICA PEGULA: Buffalo. I just think it's like the city of good neighbors kind of. Everyone knows each other, even though it's a relatively bigger, like, not a massive city, but it's a well-known city, it's a big city. You get this very next-door type of feel with it. I think that's what kind of makes it special.

You really feel that when you get there. Even my coach went up there a couple days before Toronto and he's never been there before. He was like, wow, people are, like, talking to me in the airport and, like, on the plane, and everyone is so nice. It's not like living in South Florida. I don't know. It's a little bit different. There's a mix of a lot of different people. It's not maybe the most friendliest.

It has that kind of city of good neighbors feel. I think that's what makes it really nice. And then obviously having the sports team, the city really revolves around that. So it's definitely a different feeling. I don't know how to explain it unless you really go and experience that (smiling).

But it's nice and it's wonderful in the summer. I was just there and it was beautiful out.

Q. How far do the Bills get this year?

JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, I hope all the way, of course. How can I say anything less? Yeah, we'll see. Again, they have a lot of challenges coming up, but I'm excited for football to start and to see what Josh Allen can do out there on the field. I think, yeah, it will be a fun season.

Q. What have been your observations of the way Coco has handled having won the US Open last year and the ups and downs of the last year?

JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, as far as I can see, I think she's handled it really well. I mean, again, she's so young. You kind of forget how young she is and all the challenges she's dealing with. You saw how she kind of bounced back after Wimbledon to win this title here last year. I think there's no doubt that she'll bounce back and take the lessons she learned from that swing and overcoming them into whatever struggles she had this year.

I think she's constantly maturing and growing up in front of everybody, and I feel like that's what I've noticed is that she's growing up. I would say that she's handling it pretty well. I think, again, being so young, I can't imagine how I would have handled any of the stuff that she's gone through.

But she's pretty laid back, and I think she's pretty humble, as well. She knows she's got a long career ahead and she's just got to keep working and doing what she has to do. I know she loves playing here in New York anyways, and loves the crowd. I'm sure she'll use a lot of those things to hopefully have a good tournament.

Q. When you allow yourself, if you do, to ever think about what it would be like to win a Grand Slam title, what comes to mind? What do you picture? What do you think about?

JESSICA PEGULA: It would be awesome. It would be frickin' awesome if I won a Grand Slam. I definitely allow myself to dream, I always have since I was a kid. So I think you have to take yourself to those moments.

Yeah, it would be incredible, and I think it would be a lot of, not like relief, but it's just like a reward for all the hard work. And being able to come through two weeks of a Slam, there are so many challenges you're overcoming in those two weeks. So I think it would just be a relief of being able to overcome those challenges.

I think that's kind of what it is. And yeah, I would love to be able to say that I accomplished that. That's always my goal going into a Grand Slam. And if it doesn't happen, I mean, you just try to put yourself in the best possible space to make it happen, but you kind of know that you did your best and you tried your best, and that sounds cliché, but it's really the only way you can keep moving on and keep competing.

Yeah, I think, again, every day is just a new day with a new set of challenges, and that's kind of how I'm going to approach it, but would obviously love to be able to take home the title.