Jessica Pegula is hoping for changes to the WTA calendar as she has been appointed as part of the new WTA architecture council.
The American was speaking about her new role after she survived a scare against Donna Vekic in her Indian Wells opener.
After a slow start, Pegula came through 4-6 6-2 6-3 to book her place in the third round in California.
After the match Pegula gave her thoughts on the contest as she is hoping to continue her recent red-hot form, “Yeah, interesting match. I think playing the first match for me, night match on centre, a little nervous, conditions are a lot different. It was a little tiny bit breezy out there. Cooler night,” Pegula described in her press conference.
“I think it always takes some getting used to. I don’t think we played, like, the best level for the first set. It was a little sloppy, I think, from both of us, missing some easy balls and easy shots, missing a lot of returns and stuff like that. I think after that I was able to kind of, I don’t know, free up, get the early break and get that hold kind of at the start of the second.
“I think that really helped kind of just flip the momentum for the rest of the match. Then we had some really good points, and I thought it was actually a good level after that.”
The American is in really good form but last year that wasn’t always the case as she struggled to win matches and was feeling pressure to deliver.
After her win over Vekic, Pegula spoke about that feeling and how she problem solves her way through those moments, “To me, I have always felt the most pressure on myself when maybe I’m not winning a lot of matches and you’ve lost a lot of close matches. And I think that when you start to kind of question your confidence a little bit in those moments, that to me is where I always feel the most pressure,” Pegula explained.
“Your mindset maybe isn’t the best. You’re kind of being really tough on yourself. Of course you get nervous in a Grand Slam final or a semi and in a Grand Slam at any point, but as far as pressure, I always feel like it’s pressure that I put on myself, and that’s usually when I’m not playing well, I don’t feel like I’m improving. You can kind of get hard on yourself. That to me is always kind of pressure, more of the pressure that I have felt.
“Yeah, last year, last summer, I was just talking about this, I wasn’t winning very many matches, I had a lot of points to defend. I wasn’t really worried about points to defend, because to me if you’re a top player, you have points to defend all the time. Looking at it that way is not great, but I didn’t have maybe the most amazing clay swing. I was hurt a lot, I had a neck injury, managed to play okay at the French, lost a heartbreaker there to go to, I think, to the quarterfinals. And Wimbledon, yeah, didn’t go great.
“Then I took a couple which I thought were bad losses for me before the US Open, and I was kind of sitting there going, like, kind of not having great practices, getting really frustrated. To me it was kind of me putting a lot of pressure on myself, like, why am I not playing better, why am I not getting better, I’m putting in a lot of work, but it’s almost like it’s making everything worse. I think, like, that to me was a moment where I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I kind of had to step back and go back to the drawing board and look at, okay, what are some things I can control?
“How do we also maybe not overpractice, don’t make everything worse, don’t overthink. And then luckily I was able to turn it around just in time for the Open.”
It’s not only on the court that Pegula is willing to change things as she is looking to play a massive part in changing the schedule in the future.
The American is joining Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sakkari on the architecture council in order to elevate quicker change.
Pegula spoke about her ambitions in the new role and is hoping that things will be implemented in time for the 2027 season, “It’s myself, Maria Sakkari, and Victoria Azarenka. We were taken from player council as part of the tour architecture. I was kind of named, what, the chair or something? I don’t know. I was given a fancy name. I’m really not doing much more than I was already doing. I think it was just more prioritizing, naming kind of a top player. I’m also on council as someone that hopefully myself can help bridge the gap between the players and the tournaments, as well,” Pegula detailed.
“And I think also it kind of shows that she wants to make change because I think she’s putting it out there, putting pressure on herself, like, hey, I have made this council, this is priority, this is our goal, if we don’t get this done, it doesn’t necessarily look great. So I actually kind of like that she’s been very out front with it, just, hey, this is what we’re going to do, this is our goal. We’re getting asked about it a ton in press, and we’re going to try and hopefully make some changes to make everyone’s lives a little bit easier, I think, hopefully by next year in the calendar.
“I mean, the goal is to try and prioritize the schedule in the calendar for next year. As soon as next year, hopefully. I think our goal is just to problem-solve and to try and figure out some ways to do it. I think that would be a big win for her amongst the players. I think it would be a big win for player council members who are working hard to get this done and be the voice of the players. You’re right. I think it’s fun to talk about it now, but, you know, if there is no action, then it’s kind of pointless, but hopefully we don’t get to that point.
“Yeah, I think we’re looking to hopefully implement maybe a couple of things for 2027.”
As for on the court, Pegula will face Jelena Ostapenko in the third round of Indian Wells.
