THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 3, 2026

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

J. PEGULA/J. Bouzas Maneiro

6-1, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Jess, if you can give some initial thoughts on the match today.

JESSICA PEGULA: I thought it was really clean. Definitely the best match I've had since I've been in the tournament. So that's always nice.

Really nice weather out today. Conditions felt good. So yeah, I just kind of executed, I think, my game plan really well. Came out with good energy. Yeah, was able to play a solid match.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A bigger picture question. I hope it doesn't come off the wrong way. I'm wondering how you think of any urgency in your career? Do you think about that ever?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I mean, I definitely do. It was funny, I think one thing I was saying earlier this year is everyone always tells you, Oh, you have so much time, you're young. I, like, kind of don't agree. It goes by so fast. It's, like, snap your fingers. And I was 25 with people telling me that. Then now I'm 32 and I'm like, Oh, that went really fast. It feels like it flew by.

Not that, like, you should be thinking you're in a rush, but I kind of like the opposite thought process right now. So I definitely have thought about that.

I also think, too, being married, thinking if you want kids and stuff like that, I think that's something around 30 years old that you're really thinking about because it does affect your career.

So yeah, I mean, I think about it. I think when I turned 30, I was a little bit more pressed about it. Now I'm kind of just like it's fine. I think it will work out the way that it works out, whether that's me winning a slam, whether I don't win a slam, whether that's when I retire, decide to start a family or none of those things. Whatever kind of happens happens. It's definitely something that has crossed my mind.

You can't really look at it as so much pressure. I think it's just knowing where you are, where you're at, being content with that, just letting it unfold with what you want to do.

Q. Do you think people were telling you that at 25 'cause you were a late-bloomer, they were trying to get you to relax?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, but I feel like that happened, too, when I was ranked like right outside the top 100 and I was 22. It was the same thing. Everyone just always tells you, Oh, you have so much time. Like you have so much time, you have so much time.

I didn't feel like that much time. Things start moving fast. Next thing I know, you guys are asking me this question (smiling).

I don't know. But, I mean, I find myself doing the same thing with other girls too. Oh, my gosh, they're like 18, 19 years old. They have so much time. So much time. I wonder if for them it's going to fly by as fast as it felt like it has for me.

Q. There's the Agassi quote: By the time you finally figure out tennis, your body won't let you play it anymore.

JESSICA PEGULA: Exactly. That, I think, is very fair to say. Yeah, you figure things out sometimes when you're mature, older age. When everything else kind of starts breaking down, the mind starts feeling better sometimes.

Q. What have you figured out?

JESSICA PEGULA: What have I figured out?

Q. Specifically here and specifically on grass.

JESSICA PEGULA: Specifically here and specifically...

I don't know if I've figured out anything that's, like, the answer, like the one answer that's going to solve everything.

I don't know. For me, I just always go back to having to feel like I'm constantly adapting and challenging myself as a player, but like knowing yourself at the same time. Like knowing who you are as a player, knowing how to build off of that.

I think grass is a surface that hasn't been, I don't know, can be my best surface. I've won a couple titles on it, but I haven't had the most amazing results over the last few years.

I think it's just knowing how you play as a tennis player and just adjusting to the surface, kind of building and adapting off of that without kind of losing your identity.

I feel like sometimes years in the past I've really fought against how to move on it, fought against all the intangibles, all the slices. Felt like it wasn't coming. Maybe I was forcing it a bit too much.

I think this year I've done a much better job with my movement. My serve's gotten much better. I think all those other things, I'm just letting them happen. And not so much, like, Oh, my gosh, I need to come in every single time I can. I need to hit a slice every single time I can.

I think that's more of what I was thinking maybe in years past.

Q. Iva just won. You're going to get a 4th of July matchup with her. You talked about her the other day, you haven't played her on grass, but played her a couple times this year. 14-year age difference between you.

JESSICA PEGULA: Stop talking about the age thing. Oh, my God (smiling).

I'm always motivated to beat the other Americans in a way that's different. Not, like, I don't like them or anything like that. It's more of just like I think we're really proud of our country and playing for our country.

There's so many of us that there is always like this push-and-pull kind of battle in a fun way where you're always pushing yourself against someone else from the same country.

At the same time, it's great to see how many young players we have, especially her. I think she's solidified herself for sure as a top-20 player. I think she can definitely go higher than that. Seems like she's just getting more and more confident, I feel like, as she plays more matches.

She's tough. Really good competitor. Does everything really well. I'm not surprised she's pretty good on grass.

I saw, yeah, she was in a tough match right before I came in here. It was going to be close. Yeah, I mean, we've had some close matches already on a couple different surfaces. Never played or practiced with her on grass, so that will be interesting.

Excited again to challenge myself against someone who is much younger who is playing with nothing to lose and no fear. I know she's going to come after me hard. I'll use that as motivation and try to be ready for as much as I can.

Q. You were talking about how many Americans, how much depth is there in American tennis at the moment. I think there were 36 in the main draw, which is the most in 30 years. There hasn't been a winner here in singles since Serena. What do you think it is about Wimbledon that is hard to master maybe for American tennis players?

JESSICA PEGULA: Well, I think it's been hard to master for everybody, honestly, besides who, like, Serena, Carlos, Jannik, then the women's side we've seen a lot of different winners.

I don't know if it's just that we haven't mastered it. I think we're all very good on grass. We've all done very well in the lead-up tournaments. We've won a couple of 'em.

I don't know if it is that. It's a hard surface to win on. It's hard to feel your best, like, I think, especially on grass over a couple weeks. The weather, the conditions, everything can change so much. There's different matchups that work better than others. I mean, the guys' side, I think, it's pretty obvious why that's been really tough.

The women's side, though, I think, yeah, Amanda made the finals last year. I know Coco doesn't necessarily have her best results here, but I think she's always dangerous when she's serving well and moving well on this surface and can kind of work her way into the tournament, which I think she has had just a couple tough draws. Myself included. I think Iva has shown she's good on grass. There's so many of us.

Yeah, I wouldn't say it's that we haven't figured it out. I think it's just a tough surface in general to win on. I think that's for everybody.

Q. You talked a lot about your serve this year. Was there one or a couple big changes you made? When did you decide that was what you wanted to hone in on?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it was definitely the priority when I started with both the Marks. I changed it probably two or three weeks before I actually started working with them. I felt like I needed to change a couple things. I needed to be a little bit looser.

When I started with them, especially Mark Merklein, who I train with more consistently with at home. He had a really good serve. There were a lot of things we were working on. It honestly was a process. I really had to break it down.

I may have overdone it. I fractured my rib in the process of changing my serve. I was hitting way too many reps. No one was forcing me. This is my psycho, whatever, trying to get it right.

I was also changing my motion. It was a new kind of motion and a lot of reps. That's when I missed the French one year, I actually fractured my ribs. That wasn't great.

It's been a process changing the grip a little bit, changing the motion. Honestly, it's just like breaking it down and then slowly getting those reps. We kind of, I feel, worked on certain serves the beginning of the process. Then as I felt really comfortable with those, I'd be like, Now I want to work on this serve, now I want to work on how a guy or good girl that serves, how does she hit this serve. We would honestly mess around and experiment with what kind of feels right.

Nothing is perfect with that. I think you learn what works for you and what doesn't. But I would just say it's been this slow, trusting process of just breaking it down piece by piece, what feels good, what doesn't, then slowly incorporating that into matches.

I think I've done well as far as I always have a very open mind about wanting to change things and trying them in practice. I think that's something that my coaches noticed in me and, like, saw that I adapt pretty fast.

So yeah, when I felt like I wanted to change or try different things, they're very open to doing that with me. I was able to execute it, I think, pretty well and just build that confidence over the last year or so.

Q. How do you fracture your rib?

JESSICA PEGULA: I was like, How did I do that? The doctor was like, Actually, it's very common. They said they see a lot of rib fractures in rowing. Repetitive one-sided motion. That or, I think, in baseball as well. A lot of rotation. You can slowly start to do that.

Yeah, I remember I played with it for a while. Then before Madrid, I literally couldn't lay down, like taking deep breaths. That was not a fun injury because it's just time. Yeah, that was not fun. That was when I missed Roland Garros that one year, that's because I fractured my rib. Honestly, it was self-inflicted.