US OPEN

August 28, 2026

Jessica Pegula

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome. Your thoughts on this year's Open.

JESSICA PEGULA: Really excited to be here. Yeah, I think I saw some of you in Cincinnati already last week. But yeah, excited to get going this week. I've had a great week so far. I love being in New York, just the energy, the fans. It's my favorite slam. So yeah, happy to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Can I just check how you're doing physically? I know you have played a lot of matches recently and maybe you were a little worried at one point in one of the matches at the end there.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I felt something in my match against Amanda at the beginning of the second set, and I wasn't sure, sometimes when things happen during a match it kind of throws you off. You're thinking about obviously here, but you want to do well in Cincinnati but you have adrenaline, you want to compete. There's a lot of things going on.

I think I was able to play that match with basically almost no pain, and then the next day I had off. That was really helpful for me. So when I went to play against Iga, nothing was ailing me at all, and it's been good ever since. That's why I, yeah, still played the mixed. Everything felt fine. Been practicing all week. All good.

Q. Wondered your thoughts on the mixed, the match did not go great for you and Taylor. What happened out there?

JESSICA PEGULA: It did not go great for me and Taylor. I don't know. Casper, man, he's beaten me two years in a row. Maybe I need to ask him to play with me next year just to eliminate him beating me in the tournament.

No, him and Diana played really well. I figured it would be tough. I think Casper is really good, obviously. Diana is a really good singles and doubles player. I thought that was going to be a tough matchup.

Taylor, yeah, he got broken twice. That's just kind of mixed. If the guy isn't able to serve that great, it can get kind of tough. Casper, I think we had a couple of no ads on his serve and then we weren't able to win those games and then it just kind of flipped the whole match. I think in the short format, with the no ad, that's kind of how it goes sometimes.

Q. I think I'm right in saying every woman in the top 10 at the moment has either won a Masters 1000 or a slam this year, which is pretty rare at this point in the season. I wonder how that kind of depth and openness affects how you look at a Grand Slam coming in. Do you think it makes it a bit harder or easier because there's not one solid favorite?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I don't know. I guess you could look at it both ways. I think looking at the points for just the year is pretty crazy to see the top 10, the top girls for the year-end Finals. It's really close. Especially just comparatively looking at the men, just the number of points. I know maybe we have a couple more 1000s than they do. But looking at the difference between the points of people in the top 10 to the men, you can just see how the depth is pretty crazy.

I think it's everyone has been very consistent, honestly, in that aspect. I don't know. It makes it hard to a certain extent, but then at least you kind of know there's not one or two super dominant players where you feel like they have to lose in order for you to have a chance. You can look at it both ways.

It seems to me like maybe more open in, in a way, just because, I don't know, there's more chances. I don't know. Sorry, that was a terrible answer. I don't know what I'm saying. I don't know (smiling).

Q. You have taken a role in leadership and structure on the tours, you were quoted in the announcement about the agreement with the slams. Could you articulate a bit more about how you feel about what's been accomplished so far and also about the council you're getting behind the scenes.

JESSICA PEGULA: I think it's been amazing what the players have been able to accomplish. They have never had anything like this as far as with the slams being able to generate a council, also the player welfare contribution, and then another increase in prize money has been amazing. It shows being united on the men and the women's side, especially with the top players, have put a lot of pressure on the slams just to continue to grow our sport and feel like we're making progress at least with the players.

There is still of course more work to do and there's going to be a lot of things that come up, but I am definitely appreciative of, especially the US Open, to kind of step forward with making those announcements and wanting to do that.

I think it's very important for our sport, but obviously that doesn't mean it ends there. I think going into the council, we'll see how that's constructed, and whose on it and how it's made up, and then I think a lot of discussions will have to go through there.

It's been interesting to be a part of. It's just the other side of tennis and dealing with slams. Tennis is very fractionalized in a lot of ways. So being able to kind of get everyone on the same page is a huge step for our sport and for the players. I know a lot of the players have been really appreciative of that. I'm happy that I could be a part of it.

Q. How do you compare that last match you played on Sunday against Coco versus the other times you've played her? You've beaten her a number of times. Obviously she's someone people are talking about, you're someone people are talking about, could be a rematch in the final, given where you guys are in the draw. I know that's a long way off.

JESSICA PEGULA: It's a long way.

Q. Curious how you compare that performance, you played also at Wimbledon.

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I mean, I think I was coming off definitely a lot of longer, tougher matches than she probably was, not necessarily tougher, just scoreline-wise. It ended up being, at least either I made it tougher on myself or they were just tough opponents.

But I think she just seemed like she was locked in from the beginning, just not missing a lot of balls. I think serving really well. Hitting her spots well. But at the same time, and there was a lot of close games, I felt like that could have gone my way and maybe it would have flipped a little bit.

I think she hit some pretty good shots and played some pretty big points really well, which in turn had her up 4-0 really quickly instead of maybe it being 2-All. I don't think I served very well. I think I probably served a bit better at Wimbledon. I do think on grass maybe my ball is a little bit more difficult for her to manage than on a, not a slow hard court, but we played at night, so maybe a little bit slower conditions on a hard where she's able to just run down every single ball.

No, I thought she honestly just played a really high level. I didn't feel like I played bad. I didn't feel like I was hitting the ball bad. I think the only thing is maybe serving a little bit better when I could, but I still put myself in position to try and hold there back for 5-All in the second. Again, she played a couple really good points.

But she's moving very well right now, and I think that plus if she's serving well makes it -- I mean, she's really good (smiling).

Q. I was thinking about your final here two years ago and just how cleanly you played that night, how well you played. Yet, obviously came up just short against Aryna. I wonder if you reflect back on that night and what your memories are and any lessons you take away from that.

JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, it's funny, because I just played, I feel like a very similar match against her last year in the semis. I just keep having to run into her here, and I think this is where she probably plays some of her best tennis but also where I play some of my best tennis.

Looking back on the final, first, I remember the atmosphere being amazing. The roof was closed because of the weather so it seemed really, really loud. I remember it being up and down. Like, a little bit of momentum swings. I think I got down a break early, was able to kind of bring it back, and then get that lead in the second, and then she played a couple of really good games.

But, I mean, I think looking back, I think I'm a much better player now. To be honest, I think I'm doing a lot of things better now. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to do them better all the time, but I do think there are things I've improved since that final.

So yeah, I would love to get myself back into that position. I think I was really close to doing that last year. I think I was really close to doing that again in Australia at the beginning of this year.

I don't know. I think I just look back on it as an amazing experience, but at the same time, I've played so many matches since then. And you kind of forget, to be honest, because you're thrown back into the same situation and being an athlete and a competitor, you're thinking the same things whether it's a final or it's a second round, you know. If it's a tough match, you're thinking, how do I get through that. You're not necessarily thinking about the final or the semi of a slam that you just played.

So I think that's what's so crazy about tennis is you can have all these kind of different experiences but I feel like the mindset never really changes, at least I try not to let it change. And so, yeah, I look back with good memories but also I've been through a lot of stuff since then.

Q. How do you feel about tennis and where it is diversity-wise? Do you think it's going the right direction? Are you happy with it now?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I mean, I think diversity-wise, I mean, Cincinnati was pretty cool. We got to see three African Americans as far as Arthur and Frances and then Coco. I think especially with Alex Eala and Qinwen Zheng, with tennis growing in Asia, which has been really neat.

I think the best part of tennis is there is so much diversity. Everybody from around the world can play. You're in control of your fate a little bit with the results. It's not like it's judged or you're picking certain people or it's scouting or anything like that. You see talent from all over the world.

I think it's honestly one of the most diverse sports we can have the opportunity for people to play. I think that's really cool because you see all these different fan bases get behind different players that come from all over different parts of the world. I think that makes it pretty neat. And I think being in New York City, as well, there's a lot of diversity here. You see a lot of different countries and fans and different types of people come out and support who they love to support.

I think it's in a really good spot right now and hopefully it just continues to grow.

Q. There is a lot going on around the grounds at the Open, in the city of New York. You have a lot of commitments. How do you deal with that at Grand Slams like this where you have so many commitments as an athlete but you're also trying to concentrate on the goal at hand, which is winning?

JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, it's tough to balance. There's so much going on. I feel like every single year we have played it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. You try your best to enjoy all the fun things that come with New York, but I think just give yourself some time to wind down maybe at night and just kind of stagger your days where you're not too overstimulated with all that's going on.

I know for a lot of the top players, especially the Americans, like this week is probably one of the busiest weeks of the year for me before the last slam of the year.

It's kind of a little bit of a catch-22 because you want to enjoy all the amazing things New York City has and it's so much fun and there's all these events going on, but at the same time, you're trying to focus for the last slam. I think I've gotten better over the years of just kind of managing that. Just making sure I have a few days before to kind of wind down, maybe even taking a few more off days than I usually do just to make sure I'm not running on empty by the time the tournament starts.