Press Conference: Jessica Pegula winning against Iga Swiatek at the quarterfinal of the 2024 US Open

please like comment and subscribe at smart tennis thank you um I would like to say I'm so happy that you guys cannot ask me about making it to the semis that was like oh my gosh it wasn't even a me thing it was just more like people asking me so I'm really happy to be through to the semi-finals um I thought I played yeah really clean match um served pretty well returned well I feel like I didn't really do anything that bad and was able to kind of jump on her really early and I think frustrate her and was able to keep my level even when she picked it up in the second set so um yeah I think I just played all around really good tennis today thank you one question each please we have a big room David you can start off Jessica David LA from the tennis podcast given that the problem is as and not yours were you not nervous really when you were actually coming out to try to finish it like more nervous than maybe you would be in in other rounds what you mean finishing the match yeah oh no I mean getting to this new new level in a grand St was that not an issue at the time I mean it it's not it wasn't so much the round it's just I mean it's just like winning a big match I mean there's a lot of other variables beating her number one play in the world Ash prime time trying to make a semi-final knowing that I'm up knowing that I'm playing well I'm giving myself a really good opportunity um but I mean it's not that I mean I've had some really good wins I feel like the last couple weeks and been playing some really good tennis so at the same time I still was pretty relaxed and felt like like I was going to be able to get the job done but um yeah I mean there's always going to be nerves I think closing on a match for sure Eva congratulations Jess we're also happy to come up with new questions you you've played EA three sets enough and you know how kind of quickly she can close a window of opportunity when she comes out and is is not serving like that and you're attacking her return is it something going through your head where it's not just like I have to keep my level and stay steady but I have to take advantage get a couple break points like how how are you thinking about that yeah I mean even in the second she started serving I mean she obviously didn't serve well at all the first set and I was able to take advantage of that really quickly and the second said she started serving a lot better and playing better so I knew I mean she's number one in the world I was like this she's not just going to like go away um so even though I got broken I knew I was like okay I can you know still work on getting the break back um and break or breaking her again and um I think that one game that long game we had at for 43 I think was is um you know I felt like she was starting to push me around the court a little bit and even though I was having winning some points with some good defensive points some slices and stuff like that I still felt like you know I needed to keep pressuring her and doing what I was doing in the beginning that would frustrate her and not let her get into that Rhythm cuz like you said I mean when she starts to Zone in on that I feel like she's probably one of the best Front Runners um and like you said closing those windows of opportunity is probably one of the best I think that does that really well um so being able to stay in that game and then also like I stepped in a couple times and and started moving in the court and realized my court positioning was getting a little bit too defensive um and was able to kind of sneak out that game and then just again was trying to keep that mindset going into closing out the match and then obviously trying to get some free points on my serves and and not give her a ton of second surf looks right why was it so hard for you to make semi-finals all those years I'm just kidding that I was actually going through them and I was like I lost to like some like like half of them were at least girls that the tournament you don't have to answer the question any when you're playing someone like EA and when you go to play uh mugaba do you I mean are you how focused are you on what they're doing what you need to do against them versus your game and how you want to play well I think today I wanted to come out playing the way I wanted to play I had an idea in my mind of what I learned from the last time I played her at finals and play kind of Within Myself and then just see like where she was at and then I could tell right away like she was frustrated on the serve and then I was like okay I I wanted to attack the serve pretty early but it depends on how she's serving am I going to get a lot of second serve looks am I not and so once I saw that that wasn't really working that well I made it a point to really try and step in and try to keep doing that the entire time um and then I you know think I had to make a few adjustments like she was kind of sitting on her forehand a lot and I had to change line a couple of times um you know that maybe I didn't have to at the beginning of the first set so there's just like a couple little things but I think uh I started off playing well so I just kind of try to stay Within Myself and then adjust um according to kind of like how she was playing Howard addess is is there a Common Thread you would point to excuse me to uh explain this great run you've been on on hard courts is there something in particular that you feel you've been doing really well uh and when was the last time you felt this good and this strong on court match after match after match I definitely think my movement is improved um compared to like the beginning of this year and I remember in Australia I felt slow and like not moving well um not that I'm going to be like a super explosive mover like an eager or coco type of thing but I just didn't feel like I was moving that well and um that's something I've beening on the last couple months with the new um coaches that I've hired one of them is really big into the movement around the court so we kind of focus on that and it's actually sounds weird but it's not something I've like really focused on that much throughout my career um just getting faster and stronger and all that stuff but not as specific so I think that really helped and then the serve as well I thought I think I've been serving um pretty good to be honest the the last month few months really it's it's starting to like Teeter upwards U more consistently I feel like I'm not having as many down Swings with it um and if I do I feel like I kind of know what I need to focus on to get out of it I don't feel like my serve it's funny hasn't felt amazing this week but I've done a good job of just kind of um managing it and with how it's feeling and depending on who I'm playing just trying to serve smart so I think those two things for sure all right court and then David oh goad go ahead how if you can remember the last time you felt as good about your game stepping on each on the court each time match after match I mean I just in Australia when I we won the United cup and we went into Australia I still feel like that's like the best I've ever played I was just like destroying people I was just seeing the ball like so well but um I don't know I again lost in the quarters there I think to Via that year so I I put in a I think a good string of of matches I think I also beat EA um and I think that's probably the last time so maybe last year Australia I don't know cour and David just congrats um in on the topic of movement can you talk a little bit spec like the specifics CU yeah when people say movement people think speed and Court coverage but what exactly have you guys honed in on whether it's specific footworks cutting angles what is it that's making you C I think it's um getting in and out of the corners faster and um being able to hit better shots from the corners instead of becoming getting behind behind in the point if I'm stretched um I've done a better job at either neutralizing the point or being able to kind of run out to my forehand and actually get a really good hit on it and not kind of lose that positioning in the court um I think same thing on my backand as well slicing a little bit better on the Run um and stuff like that I think is just I'm able to like I said just keep my court positioning even though I might be off the court I mean you see someone like a center is obviously crazy level how he's doing it but um I think I've started to do that a little bit better David David Kane dennis.com you've talked about the time that you were you had to take off in the spring as maybe being beneficial because it maybe made you feel fresher attacking this part of the season but when you were going through it not being able to play after maybe not the most ideal start to the season what were you going through mentally and how were you able to stay positive ahead of your comeback yeah I mean I definitely at the after Australia I was like not okay I was like burnt out I was tired I was getting I got sick like two or three times like in that span like I think I was just really run down and my immune system was like kind of shot whether it's from accumulation of stress over the last couple years um and traveling and all this stuff so um I kind of just like readjusted and on like tried to take care of my body a little bit better and kind of get myself back to feeling good and then it kind of transitioned into like finding a new coach working on new things finding that balance with them and then obviously I did actually started you know doing okay in Charleston Miami I had good results but then obviously got injured but I think by the time I got injured I was almost like I was ready to go so I think once I kind of reset and kind of got back to normal um getting injured then kind of just made me more hungry cuz I was like okay like this sucks like I want to be I want to be playing like I'm I'm ready and I to be kind of set back like that I think helped me come back um you know to Berlin Super Fresh and like wanting to win these matches and um kind of fired up so I think in a weird way it all kind of it worked out and it and it helped but um yeah at the beginning of the year I think I was just really run down like physically and mentally I only have time for two more Willie and then in the back Willie J mova when asked B you said you're on fire how does it feel to be on fire and what are your thoughts about facing her yeah I mean I'm a big fan of hers I think think she's so good so talented so skilled as a tennis player like so complete um doesn't have a ton of weaknesses and we played each other for the first time in Cincy and uh I always laugh because like she should be seated but she never is so like finally I I always see in the draw when she draws somebody good first round I'm like oh like she's back like floating around in these draws and like I don't want a part of that so in Cincy I finally you know had to play her first round I was like damn it um but you know maybe it was a good thing in the end because now we get to play each other tomorrow and um hopefully it'll be a good match but yeah um I yeah she's can play really well and obviously it doesn't seem to matter how many matches she's really gotten in she seems to have good results no matter what and um it's cool to kind of see her back because I think she's you know really great for the game and the way she plays is really fun so um she's tough great athlete um like I said doesn't have a lot of weaknesses and has been deep in these slams before so I'm sure um I feel like too she's kind of just happy to be back playing and I think when you play players like that uh they can be really dangerous so um we had a tough match in Cincy and I'll try to look you know back at that match at what I did well and what I need to do tomorrow night um I'm sure you know I think our level both of our levels will probably be a little bit higher than that match so yeah we'll see how it goes okay last question in the back Tom I'm from Poland hi Jessica ulations but I'm not too upset because I live in the United States so I root it for you as well uh question for you uh you played her 10 times first time in 2019 four times in 2022 four times last year uh so having playing how do you like uh uh would you rather play her more times a year or or uh just once because you haven't seen her since canun and uh so I was just wondering if that had anything to do with your dominant performance today I mean I think it I if I'm playing her a lot it's probably good because we're probably going deeper in events I would say just because we're both seated and stuff obviously she's been number one so usually I'm I'm probably having a good week so I guess in that way it is nice to play her a lot I mean I feel like 10 times is a lot though so um yeah I don't know at the same time though she's number one player in the world I don't know if I want to play her that much but um I think deeper in the tournaments you're going to have to play somebody good so obviously I don't mind having to play her um obviously I would prefer to play her on Hardcore and not clay um definitely don't think I'd want to see her at the French Open very early but um yeah I it's weird I feel like we've played quite a bit and I remember when she we played in DC in 2019 when I won the tournament I played her and I thought she was going to be like really good um when I played her then I was like wow this was this girl's going to be good like really fast and um next thing you know she's you know done all the stuff that she's done so yeah I mean I I guess I don't know how to answer that question I guess I would I would like to play her if it's if it means I'm having to play her in the late round tournaments um you know having the challenge of having to play the best player in the world is always an honor and I think something that you're going to have to do eventually so um why not do it more often I guess thank you very much thanks Jess you Eagle will be coming right in