Jessica Pegula Sees Big Opportunity With The Changing Field In Women's Pro Tennis

Intro [Music] Jessica it's so nice to have you here with us today thank you it's nice being here so you're one of the top tennis players in the world but you're also have a reputation as a bit of a late bloomer so yeah four years ago when you were ranked outside the top 100 did you ever think you'd be where you are today probably not to be honest I mean I always thought that I would make it happen but at the same time putting in all the work and then looking back four years later about where my mindset was I don't know if I really truly believed it so yeah it's I I did but I didn't I don't know it's it's just been a very long journey I guess so earlier in your career you dealt with a couple of serious injuries that sidelined you for for pretty long stretches what kept you going through what must have been difficult rehabs there I think it was just like my love for the game would always kind of come through and I would have these tough weeks in rehab and I would seem to always be able to get through them or bounce back and I think I just wanted to get healthy and give myself a chance to really prove you know what I could do and not for other people but I think more just for myself and I you know knew I was right there I practiced with a lot of the same girls and you see them watching them on TV having great results and you're sitting there injured and hurt and I think that always kind of motivated me as well to to give myself a chance to to come back and be stronger and see what I could do so I think that was a big motivation and then just the passion you know that I love to play the sport always kept me going and I think that's important it gets tough if you don't love the sport so I think that's what always kind of got me coming back What do you love about tennis what do you love about tennis I don't know it's just I love the individuality of it I love that it's all on you and I take a lot of pride in knowing that not a lot of sports are like that so to me it's really fun to be able to say you know I'm an individual athlete no I I don't I can't really talk to my coach I can't really talk strategy you know in really tough moments it's only you and I think that's what makes tennis so unique and special it sucks when you lose cuz it's all on you but when you win you know you're the one that got yourself through a really tough moment or a tough match and that to me is like the best Do you sense an opportunity [Music] feeling you're coming into your own at this interesting time with Serena Williams retired and a bunch of young American players on the rise do you sense an opportunity there for you I mean yeah I feel like I've already had opportunities as well but for the next few years definitely I I mean it's tough obviously it's in I think a tough period where even though there's not the Serena and venuses of the world there's still some really good players and a lot of depth I mean we saw Coco golf take advantage of that at the US Open really get hot this summer and and prove that you know she could be a slam Champion so I think that definitely motivates me as well I think there's a lot of opportunity right now for a lot of girls so me being one of them so hopefully I can you know take advantage of that I think a lot of casual tennis fans The gender pay gap in tennis maybe don't realize that outside of the four majors there's still a gender pay Gap in tennis and I know it can be tough to get women's matches televised in prime time I know that's something that you've spoken about in the past so how do you feel the effort is going to change that and you know what are your sort of thoughts on the tennis landscape right now yeah it's crazy time you know women's tennis is a huge sport for the highest paid female athlete but at the same time that the pay Gap is still very big and we always talk about how it's equal at slams but those are four tournaments a year it's not equal at a lot of the other tournaments I think we need to do better at marketing our game which hopefully I think the WTA just started a new partnership with a private Equity company that's going to come in and kind of take the commercial side and hopefully really revamp the marketing and I think getting more stories out there on all the incredible players that we What do you want your legacy to be have we can make this the last question so I'll make it a tough one what do you want your legacy to be ooh I would love to just know that I helped the game I think helped kids especially I love tennis and I think it's created so many opportunities even just sitting here today the opportunities that it's created for me it's it's insane and then on top of that you know change the game and hopefully leave a mark not just results wise but you know whether it's helping us get to equal pay or helping more kids get rackets in their hands I think any of those things would be amazing and I want to you know give back to the sport as much as I [Music] can