Pegula: "Injuring myself gave me more hunger, I was physically and mentally exhausted"

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Jessica Pegula is the tennis player of the summer. Still with chances to improve her overall grade, the American once again proves she is a strong candidate for the US Open 2024 title by defeating Iga Swiatek, the world number one, in two sets. During the press conference, the American opened up about the difficult period she had to go through a few months ago, the emotions on court, and her significant improvement on hard courts.

Were you nervous when closing out the match?

"It wasn't so much about the round, but winning a big match. There are many other variables, beating her, the world number one player, playing at Arthur Ashe, prime time, trying to reach a semifinal, knowing that I'm up there, knowing that I'm playing well, giving myself a really good chance. I've had some great wins in these past two weeks, so at the same time, I was relaxed, knowing I was capable of completing the task. There's always nerves when closing out a match," Jessica explained to the media, also confessing how relieved she is to no longer be asked about that quarterfinal limit from now on.

Her game plan against Iga Swiatek

"Today I wanted to play how I wanted. I had an idea in mind from what I learned the last time I played against her at the WTA Finals. I quickly realized she was frustrated with the serve. I set out to try to step up and keep doing it all the time. I had to make some adjustments. She was favoring her forehand a lot, so I had to change direction a couple of times. I started off playing well, so I tried to stay within myself and adjust to how she was playing."

Her improvement on the surface

"My movement has improved compared to earlier this year. I remember in Australia feeling slow and not moving well. It's not like I'm going to be super explosive in movement like Iga or Coco, but I didn't feel like I was moving that well. It's something I've been working on in the past two months with the new coaches I've hired. One of them is very interested in on-court movement, so we've focused on that. It actually sounds strange, but it's not something I've focused on so much throughout my career, just being faster and stronger and all those things, but not something so specific.

I've also improved my serve. I've been serving quite well during this past month. My level is starting to trend up more consistently. I feel like I'm not having as many dips. If I do have them, I know what to focus on to get out of them. It's funny because I don't feel like my serve has been amazing this week, but I've done a good job managing it based on how I'm feeling, and depending on who I'm playing against, I've tried to serve smartly. I think those are the two things."

Her time away from the courts due to injury

"After Australia, I wasn't well, I was burnt out. I got sick like two or three times in those weeks. I was really exhausted, and my immune system was a bit off due to the stress buildup in the last couple of years, the travels, and all those things. I tried to take better care of my body and feel good again. Then, I went on to find a new coach, work on new things, and find balance with him. I did well in Charleston and Miami, but then I got injured. Getting injured made me hungrier. I told myself: 'Okay, this sucks, I want to play, I'm ready.' I think a setback like that helped me come back to Berlin super fresh and eager to win those matches; it encouraged me. In a strange way, everything fell into place. At the beginning of the year, I think I was very depleted, physically and mentally."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Pegula: "Lesionarme me dio más hambre, estaba agotada física y mentalmente"