ROLAND GARROS

May 31, 2025

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

J. PEGULA/M. Vondrousova

3-6, 6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Jessica, congratulations. Obviously a very tough one out there against a former finalist here. Can you just give us the keys to the match and how you were able to turn it around after dropping that first set?

JESSICA PEGULA: Really tough today. I mean, I know playing Marketa is always going to be a battle, especially I know we haven't played on clay before, but I know she's had really good results here.

So was thinking it was going to be really tricky, and it definitely was. It's also super humid today. I felt like it was just a really tough match mentally and physically.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Two different questions. How much did your victory in Charleston give you confidence in your abilities on clay? Separately, would you say that you sometimes suffer from the comparison with Coco and Madison and their achievements?

JESSICA PEGULA: First question, I mean, no, not -- I don't know. I feel like green clay is a little bit different. I grew up playing a lot on green clay, especially being from the South. I'm super comfortable on that surface.

I feel like I've still had pretty decent results on clay in the past. I don't think it changed my mind that much of how I can play.

Secondly, yeah -- against who, Coco, Maddie? I feel like we always have comparisons because we have been top players for a little while now, but, I mean, our stories and our journeys and our ages and everything are completely different. So I think it's really hard to kind of compare the three of us, but I think it's just kind of what happens when you have three Americans that have done really well the last couple of years.

Q. I'm studying that you are performing well on the moments that it really counts more. Is it because of your experience that you tuned up better or you have maybe stuff that gives you better information to manipulate this performance better?

JESSICA PEGULA: Well, I feel like this past week and the last three rounds I have been doing that a lot better. I felt like in Madrid and Rome I wasn't really doing that that well, But it's something that I wanted to get back to.

I think part of my game is being able to be really good off the baseline and really good on the ground and maybe break down somebody's weakness. I think just this week I have kind of gone back to that, not focus so much on myself, but what I need to do and what the opponent maybe doesn't like. I feel like I'm really good at kind of just suffocating people a little bit with that tactic.

So I wouldn't say it's anything different. I think I have just -- my mindset maybe the past week has kind of been going back to that. You know, I think that is one of my strengths maybe compared to other players.

Q. There are obviously a lot of differences between the two events, but are there remnants of your run in September in New York that can help you here, especially as you get now to Week 2 and that sort of business end of this?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, for sure, totally different events (smiling). But, no, I think I can always draw from my past experiences on what I have learned. You know, one of those things, like I said before is how to manage the emotions and the expectations over a long two weeks. You can get really excited for the next round, but, you know, that can be over quickly, or you can win and go to the next round, and it's kind of the same process all over again.

I think I can definitely draw on things that I have learned from there, and like I said, a lot of that is just balancing even the first week, getting through matches. You know, you always want to make it to the second week, but at the same time, you've got to win some tough matches. I have definitely had that this week already.

Yeah, I try my best to draw on that, but at the same time, it's a new event, a new week, a new city, a new opponent every single day, and you kind of just have to be in the present and figure that out first before you can kind of get ahead of yourself.

Q. Separately, there is a lot to be said for staying in your own bubble at these kinds of things. I'm just curious how much you have paid attention to the American men and the fact that there is a much larger-than-normal contingent headed into the fourth round here?

JESSICA PEGULA: Who's in? I don't even know. Frances, Tommy --

Q. Frances, Tommy, and --

JESSICA PEGULA: Ben.

Q. -- Ben. It's the biggest group of American men in about 30 years to make it to Week 2.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, about time. No, I'm just kidding (smiling).

I mean, of course, I follow -- Tommy and I share a physio, so I'm always keeping up with him and what he's doing, and he's won two crazy five-set matches.

But no, it's exciting to see. Obviously you want to see your fellow countrymen do well on the other side, and I'm always actually keeping up with them, you know, quite a lot.

Yeah, so I hope they keep it going. Do any of them play each other next? Are they in different sections? Nice. Cool. I hope they keep it going.

Q. Well done today. You have got a French player next. I'm curious if you have any adventures of playing French players?

JESSICA PEGULA: Sorry, I'm checking to see who won. Keep going.

Q. Not over yet.

JESSICA PEGULA: Not over still? Did she break again? No, no, Boisson won, 7-5. That was crazy. I was watching the end of it.

Q. Do you have any adventures of playing a French player here? Does it enter into your mind at all in your preparations given the sort of atmospheres that can be created?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I didn't know who I was playing next, and my coach is like, Oh, it's the two French girls.

I said, Oh, that will be interesting just to see who wins.

Yeah, obviously, they're going to have some crazy support for them. I'm pretty good at kind of zoning out. I have played in some pretty rowdy crowds. I think it will be fun. It will be cool to be a part of that. Even though they're not for me, it will still be fun.

They're going to be going crazy. That will be a fun experience. I don't think I have ever played a French player here, so that will be interesting.

Q. What do you make of the general concept of wildcards at slams? Obviously most of them go to the home country. There is the reciprocal programs between the U.S. and Australia and France that traded them around as well. How much do you think of them as a concept, how much value they add?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, you already asked me this.

Q. Did I?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, and I didn't have an answer for, and sorry, I still don't have an answer for you. I thought maybe you thought I'd think about it, but I have not. Right? I think it was the first day.

Q. Okay. Sorry for not remembering your answer.

JESSICA PEGULA: No, that's okay. I really didn't have an answer. That's probably why. It was not very memorable.

Q. Watching this match between these two women who would not have been in the main draw otherwise in the third round, what kind of value do you think it adds to an event?

JESSICA PEGULA: You know, it's tough to say, if they're running the event, that they can't give it to who they want. Obviously, it provides a really great opportunity for their players. I have seen a lot of the French girls having some really good results this week and obviously still going and a chance into the second week basically, a chance for, you know, even further.

I mean, I think it's their tournament. They can do what they want. I don't know. Again, I haven't really given it that much thought. I'm sure they are very excited for their French players to be doing well, to get the opportunity.

Q. I was curious whether you saw Ons' tweet yesterday.

JESSICA PEGULA: No. I didn't. What is it?

Q. It's kind of a moving tribute to women's tennis and an appeal to the tournament, I guess, to treat it the way it deserves to be treated.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, you mean talking about the sessions? Yeah, I mean, every year it's the same thing. It's never equal. I don't really know what else to say. They don't really seem to care or want to do anything different about it.

I mean, I agree with her. It should be more fair. We are an event that is supposed to be equal. Slams, it's supposed to be equal. Why not give us some more chances to be?

But, you know, again, it feels like just hitting my head against the wall because I feel like we have been talking about this for two, three, four, probably forever, to be honest, because it's never been equal.

I'm happy that she's able to speak up, and obviously she's always been really good at wanting everything to be equal and fighting for not just where she's from, but also for women in general.

So, yeah, I'm with her, and I think, again, we have proven that we deserve the same amount of opportunity, yeah.

Q. Do you feel powerless about it, you and sort of the collective of players?

JESSICA PEGULA: I don't feel powerless. I just feel like they don't listen, so I don't know. We can keep saying it. It seems like that's what just keeps happening.

You know, if they don't really want to respond or, like, do anything about it, then there is nothing -- I mean, we can keep talking about it, and maybe that will eventually change it. But, no, I don't think I feel powerless. It's just it kind of is what it is until they want to make a change.

Q. We talk about American men before, but you are 15 American women in the top 100. How much can you feel kind of emulation in U.S. tennis?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it's incredible. I didn't know the exact number, but 15 is a crazy number. I mean, we're a big country, and I think we have so much depth, and we have had a lot of inspiration from girls like Serena and Venus that have inspired I feel so many generations of players because they played for so long, and they are still such icons. I think that's maybe why we have, I feel like, really strong generations of tennis.

You know, seeing girls like myself, Maddie, Coco do well, I hope we're still kind of inspiring even the younger girls coming up. I mean, I think it's really cool. I love that there is a bunch of us.

I think we all push each other and always want the best for one another and want to win. I think we have a really nice camaraderie around us where we all know each other. When you practice a lot together, especially on the road and hang out or stuff like that, I think that's really nice, because I think in that sense we are really supportive, but also pushing each other in the same sense.

I think that's why we have had a lot of success.

Q. I was analyzing that you're the quiet warrior that can beat everyone in every tournament and that you go to the Metro and have a run into the city, it's something different. What round you would say, No, it's better not to go on Metro because people would recognize me? Otherwise, don't you feel it would be nice that they recognize you a little bit more?

JESSICA PEGULA: I like not being recognized (smiling). I wouldn't want the other side of it.

But, no, thank you for all the nice comments. But, yeah, I don't know, it's just something fun that I decided to do. No one really -- maybe not as much here. I mean, if I was maybe in New York or, like, somewhere else. It kind of depends on where I get recognized. It varies from different countries, sometimes more than others, and I'm, like, surprised and sometimes -- you know, here they didn't at all.

So I don't know why that is, but I don't mind. I think it's better. I can be, like, under the radar.

Q. To go back to clay, can you explain briefly how different it is to play on green clay and red clay for you in terms of game?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it's definitely a little different. I feel like the green clay back in the States more or less now is pretty fast, so it's a little more slick, slippery.

It's a little more, like, grainy, so you kind of feel almost like tiny little rocks kind of. So it's a little more slick, whereas here it's more like a powder.

I think the balls maybe kind of get a little heavier on the red clay, depending on the weather. They kind of pick up the clay a little bit more, whereas the green clay it kind of falls off the tennis ball a little bit.

There are just little differences, but I do think it's slightly different. Also like the climates are much different when you're playing over here than when you're playing in the U.S.

All that stuff, it's not like it's anything crazy. It's just where you're used to playing and growing up, it feels a little bit different than maybe how you would play here on the red clay.

So, yeah, those are just a few of the things.