US OPEN

August 27, 2025

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

J. PEGULA/A. Blinkova

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Welcome. Congratulations.

Questions.

Q. I wanted to welcome you into the wide and wonderful world of podcasting. How did that come together? What was it like filming the first episode and the reception?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, obviously it's me, Maddie, Jenny, and Des. We've all been really close for a few years now. We've kind of always jokingly said we should start a podcast, but I feel everyone kind of says that and you just never really get around to doing it.

Then we saw the guys start Nothing Major, and we were kind of like, man, if they can do it, we can figure this out. Like, come on. Seriously.

We even talked to them a little about it. They were like, you should do it, you should do it, and we honestly threw it together. We had ideas of trying to start it before the US Open or the week before, the first week, just because we get so much coverage here. We thought it would be a great time to launch in New York City. We threw it together within two or three weeks with the team.

Yeah, it went live yesterday, so it was kind of a scary moment. We've gotten really great feedback so far. It's just something fun we wanted to do as friends. We felt like we could give some really cool insight for people that are still playing on the tour. We've all had really four different journeys to the top of the game and gone through a lot of injuries and a lot of difficult moments.

You know, I think being friends also has really helped us, especially with all the traveling and, you know, just living this lifestyle that we live. So it's actually been really fun, kind of therapeutic for us, and I guess we're just kind of sharing that with the rest of the world.

Q. Do you listen to a lot of podcasts?

JESSICA PEGULA: I actually don't listen to a ton. And I haven't even listened to ours. I was just like, I don't really want to listen to myself. Other people can give me feedback.

I listen to Crime Junkie sometimes on road trips. Honestly, I don't really listen to many, so I was definitely new to this whole world of podcasts.

Q. A few players today, they were cramping and that sort of thing. How do you deal before and during and even after matches?

JESSICA PEGULA: People were cramping today? It was so cool out. Really? Guys or girls?

Q. Guys.

JESSICA PEGULA: Guys, yeah. I think cramping is one of those things where it's not always the weather. I think sometimes it's just your physiological makeup a little bit, and there's not really much you can do sometimes.

But, yeah, I always just try to stay hydrated. I'm definitely big on hydrating and eating right a lot the night before. During the day I don't do as much, if anything. It's just something super easy to digest. A lot of carbs and calories through liquid and stuff like that, stuff that's really easy to eat.

I think from what I've been told, the pre part of it is the most important, because when you're out there, obviously you need to drink and you're doing stuff. If you go in and go into a match in the red, it's kind of difficult to get out of that. That's always something I try to focus on.

Q. Do you have go-to meals?

JESSICA PEGULA: Go-to meals? Honestly, not a ton. It's really bland. Rice, chicken, and, yeah, just electrolytes, and I like honey a lot. It's quick and gets into the bloodstream really quick, easy on the stomach and it has easy carbs. That's probably something I like to eat.

Q. It looks as if you're playing Victoria Azarenka next for the seventh time and you've split your six matches. Wonder what you're thinking you need to watch out for, playing her again?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, Vika is always really tough. I know she hasn't been playing that much and she's been hurt and all these things, but at the same time, when she's on, she's probably one of the best baseliners we've ever had, especially in the women's game that I can remember.

I mean, she can go toe to toe with anybody when she's playing really well. It's always tough playing her. Our record has kind of been up and down whether who wins or loses. It's going to be a tough match.

I feel like I kind of know her pretty well, and I think we know each other's games really well. We also practice quite a few times, more back home because we live close to each other. There's definitely no secrets. I think a lot of it will just be doing our best to execute our strategy and what we think we have to do to win.

Q. With all the strokes in your career that you faced, can you tell us what's the hardest one and the single-hardest stroke you've faced? Also, of all the great people you've met in your career, outside of your family and friends, who's the most special celebrity or star or interesting person?

JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, firstly, I would say -- I didn't play prime Serena, but I feel like everyone says prime Serena's balls is probably one of the hardest. I honestly think Madison Keys' forehand is probably the hardest ball. I think it's faster than anyone else on tour, including Sabalenka and Rybakina and those girls. Hard to read, as well. She holds it, and I feel like I'm always just at the will of her forehand and her hitting winners.

Interesting playing the mixed, I always like trying to feel the guys' balls as well, how big they really hit. Casper's forehand was, like, a lot bigger than I thought. Also his serve was a lot better than I thought. That's something I don't get to see that that often, so that was kind of interesting. Obviously I haven't played with all the guys, so I don't know.

That, and then also Fritz. I think Fritz's ball striking has got to be up there with the probably top five in the world. His ball is different than a lot of the other guys that I have hit with.

So those are a few that I can name off the top of the my head.

Your second question, who is the most interesting person I have met outside of tennis?

Q. Outside of your family and friends, the most special.

JESSICA PEGULA: Um, who is the most interesting? That's a tough question. I don't know. I'd have to really think about that, I feel like, to give you a really good answer. I've met so many interesting people, it's kind of hard to narrow down, but I feel if we're going to take into account maybe tennis, I think maybe Monica Seles has always been really sweet to me.

Kind of have somewhat of a family connection with her as well, because her husband I think used to own the Sabres or something like that. There's a connection through, yeah, hockey which is so random.

I don't even know if I've actually ever met her, but she always sends me really nice text messages and just seems super sweet and caring, and full of, like, just, I don't know, good energy. I feel like that's hard to find sometimes for someone to feel super genuine, and especially for not even knowing her that much, she always has approached me like that. So I always think that's something I would look for, an interesting person.

That kind of took me by surprise but I thought was really cool.

Q. I have asked quite a lot of players about the conditions this year, the court speeds, and the balls, and get different answers from different people. Do you have an idea why people have different thoughts on court speeds, even when from the outside they all should be the same but everyone thinks different?

JESSICA PEGULA: What do you mean, like court speed here? The courts definitely aren't all the same speeds. So I think it depends on what court they maybe have hit on or practiced on.

The back courts are a lot faster than Ashe. Ashe is kind of like slow almost a little bit. Armstrong always is a little bit faster than Ashe. So I think it depends on what courts they're playing on, to be honest, because I definitely have played on a lot of these courts here and they're definitely not the same. They try to make it as much they can but they have to lay them all down at different times, different days, and the temperature and all this stuff really changes that process.

That's probably why, because they are not the same.

Q. Do you think some players are better at judging the court speed than others?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, for sure. I think some people are really in tune to it maybe too much. Some people just don't even care. They're, like, I don't know, it feels kind of this.

I don't know what's right or wrong, it's probably good in a sense to not overthink it, but I do think sometimes maybe a lack of awareness might make you change your decision or maybe not being aware can also hurt.

But I think it just depends. Everyone's personality is so different when it comes to court speed and balls and stuff like that.

Q. There is this wider conversation in sports about fan engagement, the USTA, WTA, ATP all are approaching it in their own way. From a player's perspective, how do you think of fan engagement as a player? Do you see that as one of your responsibilities? If so, what do you think is the best way to do that? And maybe is the podcast part of that? Is there a particular audience you're trying to reach?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, the fan engagement is huge, and it's something that I feel like tennis has really changed over the last few years, especially at big events like here. I think sometimes it can be a little much because you feel, I don't know, you feel kind of like everyone is just watching everything you do. Like there is a camera in every corner. We are mic'd up all the time where we don't even know we're mic'd up.

Sometimes you don't really want people analyzing everything you're doing and saying, especially in the heat of the moment or when you're just relaxing with your team or something is taken super out of context and put on the Internet.

I think that aspect makes it really tough for us sometimes, like having that sense of privacy and these really intense moments with you and your family or your team or whatever the situation is. That can be really hard.

But the podcast I think is a fun way for us to kind of control, like, our narrative a little bit better, and I think that's something where is cool in a sense, and we still want to engage with our fans. That's kind of the cool part, and the most fun part for us that we have already done in the few episodes are answering fans' questions and getting ideas of what they want to see from us. And being able to control that I think is a lot better feeling for us than maybe the opposite of what you're talking about where we don't really have much of a choice about what's being shown or what's going on or what we have to do through media.

You know, I think that kind of you feel like you're in less control, and that's when things maybe slip out or you're not in your best self or your best mood to maybe engage and talk and stuff like that.

Q. You mentioned that you and Azarenka, you know each other's games very well, there are no secrets. Do you tend to prefer playing someone like that where you kind of know well or you'd rather someone coming in blind and have only have watched tape before they feel your ball?

JESSICA PEGULA: I think I'd rather not really know if someone -- or at least not know me. I think it kind of goes hand in hand. It's always tricky playing someone that you don't know how they feel, how their ball feels and stuff like that.

But at the same time, my ball, I know a lot of girls don't like. It's pretty low, it's flat, it skips through the court. So I always feel when I'm playing someone that doesn't know how my ball is, if I'm playing well, I feel like I'm always motivated to come out really quickly and not let them get onto my ball or the way my ball comes off and get into a rhythm.

Whereas I think with Vika it's kind of the opposite. She kind of likes my ball, and she handles it well. I'm, like, okay, now it's like a battle. I think we kind of know that so well that we kind of know what's gonna happen or how it's gonna play out.

I think in a way I almost would rather someone not know and vice versa where I feel like I can kind of blitz them a little bit quickly before they have a chance.