Jessica Pegula Press Conference | 2024 US Open Semifinal

Jess if you would your thoughts on the win yeah that was quite the match um obviously happy to be here sitting um saying that I turned it around but um obviously it was looking a little rough there for a while but somehow I found a way and was actually able to play some really good tennis and um keep that momentum you know a lot through that third set and close it out but yeah I thought in the third we had some really good tennis end of the second and the third um but yeah happy just with the way I was able to compete thank you one question each Darcy Darcy from.com congratulations um you said on the court after the match that you were kind of embarrassed after that first set she made you look like a beginner out there so how were you able to mentally regroup for that second set to to come out and do do what you just did um I don't know I mean still didn't really regroup after the first set and went down two pretty quickly and down in that service game and was able to make that kind of really good get where she missed that volley and it seemed like that was a big momentum swing and um I was able to just hold on to my serve there and find find a way I think the the crowd really helped me um get some adrenaline into me I think I was just very very flat I wasn't even nervous I was just super flat and she's really tough to play when you're flat because she's tricky she doesn't give you a lot of Rhythm and then obviously for like at the end of the first she was playing some extremely high levels so I just had no rhythm um so I I don't know I think just that game really holding that game I was able to just find some adrenaline get my legs under me um you know just try and Chase down every single ball that I could and then after that once I you know had some Rhythm and started feeling more comfortable I was able to maybe play a little bit more aggressive try and come in a little bit more attack the serve you know dictate my forehand a little bit and and kind of find my game after that but um I think it was really just holding that game in the second D stain tennis.com I have to imagine yesterday probably felt like a big emotional release to finally get over that hurdle I'm curious if that contributed to maybe why you felt flat to start the match and what was it like resetting after last night to prepare for for today yeah I was weird I feel like before the match with EA I was way more nervous and today I was kind of just like whatever but I don't know maybe that was bad because I clearly like came out super flat um I was trying to think that maybe it was good um that I felt really loose but clearly I was a little too loose um so I don't really know if that I if what happen I don't know every day again you feel different some days you come out you feel great some days you come out and you are super flat and I think you just have to deal with it but um you know I'm sure playing back-to-back matches too playing back-to-back nights maybe could have contributed as well but but I don't really know I guess we'll never really know but I think um I think that's the challenge of playing at a slam it's just every day you feel you wake up different everything can be different so um it's how you adapt to that situation and I think obviously I was able to adapt just in the nick of time tonight um but yeah I think that's just what happens sometimes really when you have faced Arena before what has been the key to the matches for you and what are your thoughts about playing her now for the championship given all that she represents with her game onun hardcour yeah um well obviously she's you know a really great hardcore player if not one of the best in the world but I think that I'm also a really good hardcore player and I'll you know Cincinnati she served unbelievable and I felt like I still had chances in that match so hopefully she doesn't serve that good Saturday maybe a little bit less would be nice but um I think I know that I can have a game that can possibly frustrate it hurt frustrate her I feel like in the past I just you know have to be aggressive I have to get her moving serve smart and you know try and put some pressure on her return or on her serve um and you know play my game which is kind of what I do already I try to do those things um and you know play Within Myself pick my spots you know I want to say like aggressive but you know not overdo it I don't know just how I kind of play and um hopefully I'm able to execute that and if there's something in the match that maybe is working or not working then I can figure that those things out but um you know I'm just going to kind of try and play my game Saturday really Peter just Peter sporio New York Daily News how how meaningful is it for you to be going to the the final yeah I mean it's amazing I it's a childhood dream it's what I wanted when I was a kid um it's a lot of work a lot of hard work put in and it's just you couldn't even imagine how much goes into it so it would mean the world to me obviously I mean I'm just happy to be in the final but obviously I come here to to want to win the title so um you know if you would have told me at the beginning of the year I'd be in the finals of the US Open I would have like laughed so hard because that just was where my head was was not thinking that I would be here so um to be able to overcome all those challenges and say that I get a chance at the title Saturday is is what we play for as players and um let alone being able to do that you know in my home country here at my you know home slam I mean it's just it's perfect really Ava Ava Wallace The Washington Post well played J um kind of going off of that we spoke to you so much earlier in your career about kind of your persistence and and overcoming the early injuries that you had and and kind of being really patient before you got these big wins just just making the final even though you're obviously trying to win this thing is is that rewarding in any way just oh yeah I mean it's always rewarding to I mean you play for two weeks and you just want to get to that match knowing that you have have a chance uh to win a slam and that's I mean that's what we play for so I it's still very rewarding even though I know you know the job isn't finished but um yeah I mean all the years of hard work going into it being like you said super resilient um through a lot of different things is um yeah I guess what I've been known for so I guess it's it's nice to see that it's paid off at least the last two weeks and like you said of course I still want to win the tournament but I think being able to break through so many different challenges and barriers you know the last couple weeks or even the last month really for me personally is a massive win to me congratulations ver of all um we had a talk at the green prior wtt 2020 at the time you told me what this what a time right what a time right that was that was a lot of fun yeah um you told me at the time this was one of your dreams as you just mentioned um but how do you explain the Improvement the level of uh of play and confidence that you have uh in such a short time yeah how do you how do I especially now being one step away yeah I it's crazy I think one is um I got a lot fitter I got a lot better at moving at knowing how to play my game and I think all those and staying healthy and I think all that stuff kind of accumulated into me becoming a lot more confident um in matches I feel like my mental toughness just got so much better once you start winning a lot of matches and um you have this belief in yourself that you can win in tough moments and you can beat these girls and all this stuff and um you know that's I mean that it just gives you a lot of confidence going into these weeks and then I've been able to kind of build off of that and learning through different experiences winning tournaments um and you know all that stuff kind of just adds up and you just you can always improve you can always get better I think I've always had a really good open mind I've always wanting to get things better um I'm very open to trying different things to changing things and not anything crazy but to just opening up a different perspective on how to get certain things better and not being afraid um of trying those things whether it's a movement thing it's a shot it's there's a lot of things I think I'm always working on and um I'm not afraid to also kind of tried that in matches as well and I think when you do that stuff and you try them and you're working on things and you're able to use them in tournaments that you get confident and you're like wow I can really get better I can improve and I can hit these shots in big moments and that just kind of builds and it can build really quickly I mean I think we saw that with Emma Navaro who's drastically improved I mean an insane amount in the last year um and now she's just found the belief that she can play at this level and it can happen quickly so I think it's nice I hope hope I can be an inspiration to other players that maybe feel like they're stuck or they're not getting better um that you can you can always find a way to get better and improve we time for a couple more Howard I just Howard fendrich with the Associated Press few minutes ago you talked about dreaming of this as a kid uh were there moments where along the way you thought you know it's just not gonna happen for me um I think I don't know if I thought it's not gonna happen but there's definitely moments where either like I didn't want to play tennis I didn't really know if I wanted to do it anymore I mean you definitely hit those types of low moments um I've definitely had several of those but I I think in the end I always would kind of snap back and be like okay like what am I talking about you know I I would always kind of just flip the script a little bit and I've always been good at doing that and I think that's why I've always been able to come back from different challenges even better than for but um you know I I honestly I've always felt like not that it was never going to happen I I almost think the opposite I always felt like you know what you'll figure it out eventually and that's kind of something I've always told myself I'm like I I'll I'll figure it out like one of these times and I think that's kind of just maybe my quiet kind of confidence to myself that I feel like I always have that last two Charlie and then gentleman in the front Charlie he just congrats um Charlie from the athletic obviously it'll be your first major final have you thought about you know reaching out to people who've been in that position and asking them for tips or are you just going to kind of see how it see how it goes and um yeah not really I haven't gotten that far we'll see who texts me um tonight and tomorrow maybe if there's a good name that pops up I can pick their brain uh a little bit but it was actually cool I um James Blake came out cuz my co one of my coaches used to work with him a lot and so he actually came to my practice for a long time before the tournament started and it was nice kind of talking to him because I was a little nervous going into to play Shelby um you know knowing that she might be retiring and all that and he was giving me some advice but um other than that I haven't really spoken to many people I I don't know if I feel like it like I said if if someone texts me that I I feel like talking to but I might just kind of wing it in the front last question congrats Jess to Shai Buffalo News um what do you the final push to win this thing what do you do the next couple days tomorrow in particular um preparation wise mentally to lock in yeah I mean definitely get home uh get some sleep get some rest I'll probably just try and practice super light um around the same time that I'll play the final Saturday just to kind of get my biological clock on the right time frame and probably just be pretty light I think but um it depends on how I'm feeling in the morning but obviously not going to overdo it and try and get ready for Saturday but just kind of rest and a little active recovery I don't know I'll see if my trainer wants me to kind of do anything tomorrow but um just make sure the body and everything is feeling good all right thank you everyone thank you Jess