'I want to win these tournaments' – Jessica Pegula sets sights on first Grand Slam win ahead of Australian Open
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Updated 13/01/2023 at 18:39 GMT
Jessica Pegula may be the world No. 3, but she has bigger ambitions. After impressing against Iga Swiatek in the United Cup semi-finals, the American now wants to win a Grand Slam. Pegula admits that she's feeling "tired" after a series of slam shortcomings and is ready to rectify her mistakes. She also speaks about coming to terms with not being a fan favourite due to her family background.
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Jessica Pegula is setting sights on a first win Grand Slam win at the Australian Open, says she's "tired" of just coming short.
The American world No. 3 made headlines last week after her victory against Iga Swiatek in the United Cup semi-finals left the world No. 1 in tears.
Now however, she's ready to compete in Melbourne Park. The 28-year-old made it to the quarter-finals of three slams last year, the Australian Open, the French Open, and the U.S Open, and she's ready to move up a level.
“I was starting to realise like, OK, I’m having all these amazing results but I want to win these tournaments," Pegula said to the Guardian.
"I’m tired of just being the consistent person which is great, but at the same time, I would love to win a slam and then maybe win less matches, you know? I don’t care."
Pegula also spoke about coming to terms with the fact that she may not be a widely rooted for tennis player due to her upbringing, with her parents being the owners of the Buffalo Bills NFL team and Buffalo Sabres NHL team.
“I think people definitely root more for the underdog, and so I’ve never really felt like people are totally rooting for my story. I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just like, that’s what I feel. And I don’t care – it doesn’t affect me and that’s fine. I understand and I think I’ve gotten better at maybe trying to bridge the gap... It might not be an underdog story, but it’s kind of a cool story. A fun story.
“I want to connect with the sports teams. I want to connect with my family in that way. I don’t want to totally shy away from it. I’m not [going to] sit there and flaunt everything, but I think it’s just fun. And I think that’s helped me as well be more comfortable when everyone’s always like, ‘Oh, she’s the richest tennis player in the world or she’s worth the most or blah, blah, blah, or she doesn’t need to do this or that.’
“I always knew I was putting in the hard work and treating people well, being respectful and having that respect among my peers. I’ve always felt like I’ve had that. So to me, that outside factor never really affected me because I knew what I was, I was doing it the right way, and I was doing it."
Pegula may be the highest-ranked American player at the moment, both men's and women's, but she burst on the tennis scene quite late, breaking into the top 100 after her 11th year as a professional player.
“I just remember [top 100] being this huge hurdle, and then when I did it, I was kind of just like, ‘OK, that’s it? That’s all it took?’ It was hard, but I think it’s one of those things where you have this amazing goal, and then once you reach it, you realise: ‘Why was I stressing out so much about that?’
“I see girls I played challengers with, and now I feel so weird being a top-five player in the world. It feels weird. I’m always kind of wondering if they’re like: ‘How the hell did that happen?’ And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Gosh, I really made that leap. I really did it.’
“I’ve been in slam qualifying, and I’d be kind of freaking out. You don’t really realise it in the moment because it seems like it’s such a big deal. You’re freaking out,” she continued.
“And then now that I look back and I’m playing all these even bigger matches, I’m like, ‘Wow, I’m way more calm now than I was when I was playing qualies and [lesser] events.’ It’s one of those weird things where it’s something that you haven’t achieved, and then once you do it, I think you just free up, and you get this confidence, knowing that you belong there.”
Pegula will face Romania's Jaqueline Cristian in the first round of the Australian Open.
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