AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 17, 2026

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Okay, we'll go ahead and get started with Jessica Pegula. Welcome back to Melbourne. Give us an overview for your preparation for Australian Open this year.

JESSICA PEGULA: Super excited to be back here in Melbourne. I've had some really great results. Always good feelings coming back. Everyone is happy and refreshed from taking a little bit of a break.

Excited to be back and kind of kick the year off and hopefully it is in a good way, I guess.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Can you give me a sense of what your off-season was like and what was different to prepare for the season?

JESSICA PEGULA: I took a couple of weeks off after the WTA Finals. I didn't pick up the racquets. Took a bit of a break and got right back into it. Played some exhibitions, which was fun. I always kind of like playing those in a different setting, in cool venues, is always exciting for me.

I spent a lot of time with families, holidays Thanksgiving and Christmas, and here. It went by so fast. But was able to get some decent training in.

I had a little bit of a few nagging, small injuries that was a little frustrating to deal with, but decided to go to Brisbane, get a lot of good practice in, get used to the conditions. I ended up playing four really good matches. It actually worked out perfect. I have been here in Melbourne since that ended. Yeah, I feel good now.

Q. With the pre-season routines, is there a temptation to try to change things up or fine tune or have you felt like you found a rhythm that you do year every year?

JESSICA PEGULA: This year there was definitely stuff that we really wanted to work on that I think I was already kind of implementing in the US Open and in Asia, which I felt I was starting to do better. It was kind of building off that stuff.

I think as a player and as a coach you kind of have to, it doesn't always happen, sometimes you're working on things that you already know you need to work on, but I think we had a bit of an idea on how I was going to become a better player. You kind of have to have that belief with yourself as the player, and then obviously with the coaches, they have to buy into that too.

I think we hit that point maybe like in Asia. And I think that was exciting for me to work on stuff where you were kind of excited to work on it because you're actually this is making me hit this shot better and this is helping me move better. That's always exciting.

You don't always have those in off-season but this year I felt I did. I was a little bit more I guess excited for my off-season training than maybe previous years.

Q. I wanted to ask about your rivalry with Sabalenka. I'm curious what you think what works for you with that matchup, what makes her tough. Obviously she's spent a lot of time at No. 1 now. Do you feel you've been able to get yourself in matches consistently?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I think we've had -- obviously she has beaten me more times, but I think we tend to bring out some really good tennis in each other. You know matchups like that just happen. It happens to be for me and Sabalenka, we tend to have some pretty crazy matches. Really high level I have always thought.

Even though it is frustrating sometimes I am not getting as many wins than I fell like could be. I mean, she is the best player in the world for a reason and sustained that for quite a bit now, as you said.

It is fun. She challenges me. You know, pushes me to figure out how to become better. I think at the end of the day that's kind of what I try to take away from some of the tough matches. Even though I feel like I've had some chances to win them, and beating her on a bigger stage would be something that I am trying to strive for, especially at big tournaments.

You know, I keep running into her, but I think it is also a little bit of a good problem to have. It means I am putting myself in good positions against the best player in the world.

Yeah, it has been frustrating. But I think once I kind of get over the match itself, I look back, we've had some really cool matches. Some of the matches I played with her have been in some of the best atmospheres that I've gotten to experience. So I always try to take away those positives.

Q. You pulled out of Adelaide and went far in Brisbane. What led to the decision to pull out of Adelaide, and how did you use the week to prepare for now?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I had a change of schedule the way it kind of panned out. I kind of went to Brisbane not really 100%, but it was one of those things that I needed to play my way into getting over some of those little nagging things and just see how my body kind of dealt with everything.

Luckily, everything went really well. Was able to get through not just three matches but a couple of really tough matches physically. So that was like a great test.

You know not really having a ton of training and consecutive days, and then travelling there, practicing and playing four straight days was a lot.

I didn't kind of want to push myself over the edge as far as reinjuring anything that was already there. So I ended up changing my schedule and not playing Adelaide, which is a great tournament. I obviously have great memories, making the finals last time.

It was a bit of a bummer because I do like playing there. But at the same time just giving myself some time to actually recover and, you know, make sure nothing else pops up.

So that's what I have been doing this week. I have been able to get a lot of really good practice in. Yeah, so far so good.

Q. (Question regarding watching the Bills.)

JESSICA PEGULA: What time is it on?

Q. 8.30.

JESSICA PEGULA: That's not too bad. When I was in Brisbane I think it was after I lost, right? No. Yeah. I woke up at like 4:45 a.m. So 8:30 is definitely not as early as that.

But I am excited to watch the game. I love how it is always on TV here so it is easy to watch. Nervous. We'll see how it goes. I feel like we're a little banged up, but I think everyone is at this point in the Playoffs.

But I think Josh is just incredible. Played unbelievable last game. I think he's just I think if not one of the best players in the league right now. So I think when we have him, always going to give ourselves a good shot. So hopefully get the win.

Q. (Question about comparison with Frances.)

JESSICA PEGULA: Like how is his?

Q. I think you're like fairly calm and steady and predictable and in some ways he's not those things. In terms of approach, he's goofy outwardly. I wouldn't call you goofy.

JESSICA PEGULA: No, I'm not goofy. He's definitely goofy.

Q. Obviously different ways to approach tennis. I'm curious what you see when you look at him and be around him?

JESSICA PEGULA: It is funny because every time I see him he's always, You're still on the practice court, still practicing? I don't know, there's always funny these comments.

But he's been asking to hit with me a lot because he said the last time we were hitting a little bit he's top 10, and he's like I need to get that back. I need to go back to what we were doing in Australia here a couple of years ago when I was breaking into the top 10. So it is kind of funny.

I mean, I think Frances, it is so fun how he approaches the game. I mean he's able to be creative on court and have fun and be loose. I think that's something that you can't take away from him because that's what makes him him.

I wish I could be like that. Like, naturally it's not in me to be that way. I think that's what makes all these athletes so different in how they approach and how they play the game.

You know, Frances maybe it's not in him to be a super stable player, but when it comes to a big stage he's always going to put on a show. There's definitely value in that and that's how he enjoys playing the game.

Sometimes people say, like, he's not taking it seriously or not doing this or that. But at the end of the day it's how he wants to play the game, it's how he wants to enjoy it.

Yeah, I'm sure he can maybe be a little more focused sometimes or plan a little, be a little bit more prepared, something like that. But it's such a fine line with not taking away who he is and what makes him so good. And you don't ever want to mess with that.

I'm always kind of envious that they can be so creative and outgoing on court and that's who they are. And that's how he plays, that's how he feels himself.

At the end of the day you got to stick to who you are on the court and not kind of change that too much.

I mean, you can dial things back and change a little bit, but at the end of the day you kind of have to stay true to yourself, that's how you're going to play your best tennis.

Q. He's talking about trying to lock in more basically here. Do you think it possible for someone like him to do that, or in his own way or whatever?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it's going to have to be in his own way. And I hope he can figure that out, whatever that is. Yeah, definitely. It's funny because when I've seen him, or he has a new coach or something, I'm more of, gosh, I hope they don't take away what makes him him because that's always going to be at the end of the day what makes him so good. And his skill level and his, talent level, and having fun on the court and creativity and all that stuff.

Yeah, you just have to I would say just tweak the little things. I'm sure hopefully he figures it out.

Yeah, he says he's going to lock in. I don't really know what his lock-in is.

Q. We'll find out.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, we'll see what he does. I'm curious to ask him now what he's going to kind of do to lock in more. Maybe remember his racquets (laughter).

Q. I wanted to ask about the podcast. I just what to know what you make of the growth and the dynamic and so forth?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it has been really fun to grow in that space. I think we're excited to kind of start a full year around the slams and big tournaments because we really only launched during the US Open and then there's really not that much going on in the tennis world after that.

So I mean, we're trying to grow it this year, have more gas, kind of base it around depending on where we are, events in the world, things going on.

So, I think that will be really exciting. We're excited. We filmed a lot. We filmed a lot. We had Coco on as our first guest, and that was really fun.

We are going to record again tomorrow. So we'll have some content from actually being here in Melbourne, which I think is cool.

I don't know, it's exciting. I don't think any players have really done that before. So hopefully we can give some decent insight to kind of what's going on and how we're feeling.

Again, it's a little therapeutic for us. So it's always fun. As long as we can get our schedules on the same track I would say is the hardest part. But we'll see how it goes this year. But we're excited to have a full year of basing it around a lot of different tournaments.

THE MODERATOR: We'll leave it there, guys.

JESSICA PEGULA: Thanks.