MUBADALA DC OPEN

July 31, 2026

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

J. PEGULA/A. Kalinskaya

6-3, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Jess, congrats. You're through to the semis. How are you feeling?

JESSICA PEGULA: I feel pretty good. A lot more straightforward I think than yesterday's match. Still tricky, though. Especially at the end.

But, yeah, she's never easy to play, so if I can get away with a win against her, that's more straightforward than usual. That's a pretty good day for me.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. I was noticing just a few seconds after you were listing the players who were tricky for you in press yesterday, they were all Russian. You will play a Russian in the next round, as well.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yes.

Q. I wonder, is there any commonality in there? Thoughts on each of those two possible --

JESSICA PEGULA: I don't know. Maybe there's something there. I never really thought about it.

But, yeah, if I play -- I think is it Shnaider or Samsonova?

Q. Yeah, that's right.

JESSICA PEGULA: Honestly, I think that was what I thought. Yeah, Liudmila I think also has had good results here. I think just being on that center court, it's a little bit bouncier, but still pretty fast. I can see why she has some good results here when she's playing well.

Then Diana, always tricky, lefty. We've had some really good matches recently. She's always really tricky to play against. I think she's a little underrated in her ability as a tennis player. I think she's very well-rounded.

So, I mean, either way, yeah, it's going to be really tough. I've played both of them many times, so there won't be any secrets.

Q. I'm curious just what you mean by underrated, just because better than her ranking, you mean?

JESSICA PEGULA: She's a really good competitor. I think her hands are really good. I mean, she's a very good doubles player, and I don't think people really talk about that. But I mean, she can kind of play cat-and-mouse. She can be aggressive with her forehand. A lefty is always tricky.

I think she's a bit underrated with her ability to be a very well-rounded tennis player.

Q. You mentioned before the tournament started regarding the prep, you said it very casually, but suggesting it wasn't a traditional ramp-up for a tournament like this. Was that intensity, volume? Did it change the fact you didn't play until I guess Thursday, right, yesterday, this week?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it was kind of unintentional. I don't think I was planning on playing this tournament, so I had things scheduled, but then I realized that it probably was a good opportunity for me to play.

Also, with the mandatory tournaments that we have to hit a certain number, I felt like I should play Washington. So that changed. I took a wild card.

But my week of kind of the two weddings I went to; I had, live, five sponsored things that I flew to. I really didn't play after Wimbledon for, like, 10, 11 days, almost 12 days. Then, of course, I was so rundown that when I got back, I got sick.

So I started practicing when I got sick last week, and I didn't honestly do that much. Like, I wasn't really -- I worked out a little bit, but I was just trying to get used to hitting balls again.

Then in Florida it was, like, 95 degrees out. It was super hot. So we were a little limited with me not feeling well and then having to practice in heat. So I think the extra day here helped.

I think also it not being as hot here really helped. I remember I looked at the weather because I was just more worried about not playing, coming back, being sick, and then being thrown into Washington where it's really hot historically. But I saw that it was going to be a little cooler, and I was, like, okay, maybe I can push through this week and be okay.

But I think it's weird. For me, sometimes I've had really good results when I'm not training that much, when I'm just working on certain things, and I know my game and know how I'm going to play. It's a weird method.

My coach was just laughing about it. Even at the start of the year this year, I mean, I literally had no offseason. I was a little hurt, and I didn't practice. We went to Brisbane, and I was, like, we'll see if I play. Then I played great all the way through Australia swing.

So I don't know. Sometimes I guess there's no expectation.

Q. You mentioned yesterday how you and Anna have had some really tough battles over the years. What was the biggest difference for you today in being able to get it done in straights?

JESSICA PEGULA: I think I got off to a really good start. I think I came out playing much better than I did yesterday, which always helps. I think I was serving, in general, much better throughout the match today, which someone like Anna, who is a very good returner, can be very aggressive off the return is important.

Then even though I was up, lost the break, I kind of knew, like, I mean, that has happened to us a lot in the past where she's been up a break, and I've come back, and I've been up a break, and I've come back. So I just kind of almost thought of it like don't freak out, this always happens, just try to get the break back and hold serve.

I was serving well, so I was a little disappointed that I wasn't able to serve a great game that game, but once I got a couple of those double faults off her, I was able to break back. I just kind of focused on my serve and my spots and what I wanted to do.

Q. You mentioned how you were very busy before the tournament, and you weren't sure if you were going to play and then you were sick. What was that ramp-up process like for you leading up to this tournament?

JESSICA PEGULA: Leading up to this tournament, I think I practiced last week, like, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Took Sunday off when I flew here and then practiced Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, played Thursday. So it wasn't anything crazy.

I think I was able to play more points this week. When I was back home, I didn't really play much points. I just kind of a little bit, but was more just ramping up to see how the body felt. Like, I just wanted to feel good on court.

The ball striking part for me isn't really ever the main problem. It's usually just how is my body feeling and stuff like that.

Q. I was curious, heading into the US Open, how things are on the sort of slam negotiation front with the players?

JESSICA PEGULA: Did they announce prize money yet?

A. I don't think so yet, no.

JESSICA PEGULA: Soon, yeah.

Q. Probably, yeah. What are your thoughts on what's ahead on that US Open front?

JESSICA PEGULA: I had a really good talk with them during Wimbledon. They were very receptive. I think they were very excited, and they are willing to really want to listen to the players and make change and I think differentiate themselves as a slam that wants to work with us.

Obviously since then, Craig has come in, but I think we know that he's historically very player-forward. So, I mean, it wasn't like they couldn't say it that much, because they're, like, Craig still has to come, and he's kind of the one that's helping us make these decisions.

But I think the mindset was that he's going to be very open to a lot of the things that, I mean, he already knows about and that we've already discussed and said throughout the year through press and with different talks that we've had.

So, I mean, they were great. I think they want to kind of stand out and make a change with the players. I think the talk went really, really well, so I think we'll see that hopefully soon along with their prize money announcement.

Q. I know you talked about these things before, but can you enumerate some of the things that would be satisfying or would be progress from them?

JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, the asks that we've had -- I think we've had pretty much three asks, which are the player welfare; I think a way to communicate with them more efficiently where we feel like they're making decisions together to benefit the players, so some sort of council or something like that; and then I think more of a revenue share model, which I think that is going to be the trickiest part that we'll have to figure out with them.

But I'm still hopeful, like, open-minded that I think that eventually it might not happen at the snap of a finger, but I do think that they were very open to a lot of the things in our ask, and we're showing that there is possibly a pathway to the other things that might be more difficult to solve.

Q. Just regarding your run, might feel like eons ago, but seven years ago when you did do that, I think you had overcome some injuries leading up to that. What did that do? You've accomplished a lot since then, but as far as using that as a springboard and maybe how title No. 1 compares to all the others that you've since won?

JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, it was kind of like a monkey off my back. I had lost in a lot of finals at that point, a lot of challenger singles finals. I think a tour-level final, as well.

I was able to do it on the doubles side, but just wasn't able to get there on the singles side. It was just kind of a relief, you know, when something is always kind of hanging over your head to get that first title.

I think it gave me a lot of confidence. I think whenever you accomplish something that seems really far away or really hard, you realize it's not as hard as you think it is, and all of a sudden it becomes maybe a little bit easier than before just because mentally you know how to get there, you know what you have to do, you know how to control your emotions and stuff like that.

I think being able to do it here, I was beating people that were ranked higher than me I think to win the title, it just gave me a lot of confidence. I think I was able to really stack that confidence and keep using it, like you said, as a springboard to do well, because I didn't want that to be my only one. I didn't want to be like a one-and-done type of deal.

It just gave me confidence really.

Q. Maybe you've noticed that some of the ATP doubles players are getting mic'd up for some of the matches. I don't know if you saw that, but I'm curious if you would ever welcome that idea?

JESSICA PEGULA: Oh, that's cool. I didn't know that, yeah. I think that's a fun idea for doubles.

Q. I'm curious if you would open to doing it?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I don't see why not. I think that's really, really fun. I think it shows there's a lot more communication, a lot more strategy talk between two people than what you would see on a singles court. So I think that's something they should take advantage of and give insight to fans.

It's kind of getting into the mind of what they're doing, so I think that's a great idea.