Jessica Pegula Press Conference | 2024 US Open Final

Jess if you would your thoughts on the match yeah um super tough match today obviously I would love to be in a third set right now but um I guess relatively speaking happy that I was able to at least give my chances to win a set considering you know I was down in the first and in the second so um was able to find some good tennis just wasn't quite able to sustain it um and yeah congrats to her I think she played some big tennis and some big moments thank you name and affiliation one question each Ed MC Grogan tennis.com um the EA match the mova match this match all within like 72 hours like have you had a chance to kind of even take that all in just these were just one after the other probably not because I'm just annoyed that I lost right now and everyone's like oh congrats amazing tournament and I'm like H like whatever so I think maybe once I I decompress a little bit um you know I'm you know I'm sure I will be a little bit more appreciative and see all of that at some point uh I should probably do that at some point but um yeah it's been kind of a crazy uh crazy couple days so um hopefully I'll get some time after this to kind of just relax and um just you know look back at what I've been able to do the last month re just believe from the national congrats on a great tournament um sometimes tenis can be so repetitive especially if you've been around for a while you got to EXP experien new things that kind of atmosphere in a final where you're the home player are you able to appreciate that and during the match were you able to take that in a little bit or were you just locked in yeah I mean it was so loud when we walked out I think with the roof being closed it felt even louder so um it was a really cool atmosphere really cool experience and and obviously I was trying to at some point take it all in but at the same time try and focus on on the match in front of me but um there was definitely a couple moments where you know I tried to you know not rush and kind of stop myself a little bit and be able to um yeah appreciate that crowd noise because it was definitely super super loud and then on the changeover I'm always looking up and I see all the celebrities it's kind of hard not to because it's literally like right in front of us but uh I was like wow there's definitely a lot of people here so I thought that was pretty cool and um pretty amazing that I you know got to play in front of them Charlie I just said Charlie athletic I know you've spoken about you know of having had a bit of time off this year and the benefits I just wondered like did you feel physically different this year compared to other years did you feel fresher and mentally as well I guess um beginning of the year I would say I was bornt out and then I think coming into this swing I do feel fresher I think my usually US Open I'm like like everything's kind of falling apart I think a lot of girls are like that I feel like the doctors and the physios are very busy here um but actually this year I felt a lot better and I think with the amount of matches I've actually played since Paris just with the travel and the schedule um I've actually felt pretty good so I think that's a really good sign um of my fitness and um just kind of getting back to normal than what I felt this year I think just my immune system like a lot of things are just a lot better and I feel like I'm in good shape now so um I would say better this year maybe compared to last year but if we're talking about beginning of the year I would say no but you know I think I've reset a little bit since then Brian Brian Lewis post um following up on that question I mean obviously whatever 2022 you were third and maybe in some ways more consistent throughout the year but would you agree with the assessment that this is you're 30 this is the best tennis that you have played the level that you're at if you do agree with that assessment why so and are those things that you feel you can carry on going forward next year and continue to improve I mean honestly I really don't think I'm playing that much better than I was last year um or previous years I feel like there's moments where I've played actually better like i' I think I've said before my movement and my serve I think has gotten a little bit better so I think there's certain parts that maybe are a little bit more consistent than they used to be maybe not today I don't think I'm sure there's other days where maybe I've served better but I think as far as like a baseline it's not as much as up and down throughout the weeks and through matches and I would say the same for my movement so I think those things have um improved a little bit so I I don't know if I would say say I'm playing better does the ball feel you know am I seeing it like a watermelon every single day not quite but I think with those other things um maybe that's why it may it may seem like I'm playing you know my best tennis but um I really think it's just more working on a couple little things that maybe weren't my strengths that have you know um been a little bit better consistently timal Shai Buffalo News um if I if I heard you correctly in the post um match interview you had a pretty big contingent of family here I think you said both your parents I know you typically have a pretty small group um what was it like to be out there with I mean with that kind of like personal support yeah it was really cool I had a lot of friends that were just like I'm flying in and when I'm coming I don't care you know I'm going to get off work and all this stuff and I thought that was really cool because I feel like um you know in a way not just my journey but my friends and family have been on this journey with me as well um my family obviously but even like some really close friends who you know we've sacrificed a lot of or who have even played a little bit with me when I was younger but have sacrificed a lot of things that we don't really get to do to together um and you know they know how it is and they've either played or they understand by now that uh we don't live a normal life so um I think for them it was really fun too with how many maybe things I've had to miss for them um for them to kind of come in and you know see this is why I think that's really cool and then and almost in a way like they they've kind of earned that you know too so I think it was really fun and my family yes of course but for my friends to kind of flying is is really nice so hopefully I get to see him tonight David Matt Court David hi David Kane tennis.com you said before the semi-finals you were feeling a little bit loose and but today you started pretty well so I'm curious what the nerves were like heading into the day and what it was like getting to uh speak with Steph Curry before the match started oh yeah um yeah today I actually felt really good and I I wasn't really that nervous I I just felt like I was ready to go and it was a fun atmosphere obviously um it it maybe changes once you're in the match but I didn't feel flat I didn't feel nervous I actually felt really good so I thought that was a good sign um I thought I handled the moment more or less pretty well besides obviously not winning but um as far as everything else I think I did a good job and yeah being able to talk to Steph that was really cool um I met him kind of briefly at the Olympics during the open opening ceremony and we traded pins but um yeah it was it was cool for him to come out I guess he's you know really wants to kind of keep supporting women's sports and get really into it so it was really fun to meet him and also his wife and um funny story my my husband he like his iPhone name is Steph Curry because he loves Steph Curry so like if you connect to Bluetooth or like send him something or airdrop it's Steph Curry's iPhone and I so I kind of left early and I he texted me and he was so excited he didn't like want to say anything and I was like please tell me you did not tell him about the iPhone thing and he's like oh yeah I did so I thought that was really cute and he's like no he loved it and I was like did he or did he really think you were kind of crazy but I guess he thought it was pretty funny and he was like oh you got to show my wife that so um that was kind of a cool moment for him because he's like a dieh hard Steph Curry fan and I think actually first watched him at an NC NCAA tournament in Buffalo so he always says he's an OG fan so that was really cool Matt hey Jessica Matt butman the athletic you have talked in the past about sort of like your incremental progress and what it's done to your confidence like when you 50 wining 500 do does this two weeks in this and getting to this final do you think this fits into like one of those this is enough to get you into sort of one of those categories of something that builds confidence for you or additional confidence if I can't take Confidence from this I mean there's got to be something wrong so I mean I I think I've taken Confidence from winning a 250 from winning a 1,000 from you know being able to win another 1,000 um multiple ones now and then to be able to be a grand slam finalist I mean I think that was kind of the last thing for me right was I made a lot of quarterfinals but can I make a semi can I be a contender to actually win a grand slam and um I mean looking back I I've lost to again to really good player I mean I lost the girls that pretty much won the tournament every time so I I know my level was right there um and I think maybe I handled the moment a little bit better this year like I said before with just having a maybe a different perspective of you know I had a rough start to the year and I didn't really expect to be doing this well in the hardcourt swing and I was able to kind of flip that script and so I think when I came into here it was almost less pressure kind of in a way because I was just happy I was in another quarterfinal I didn't you know my slam record this year was not great so um I think maybe that perspective maybe helped me through that moment and then I was able to obviously have a great match in the semi come from behind there and um put myself in a chance to win a grand slam so I think for sure I will take a lot of confidence from this um in maybe like an hour or two because like I said I'm just kind of annoyed that not even annoyed of losing the the tournament I think it's more just like I wanted I was looking at it like I just wanted to win the match you know and now there's like things that are just in my head that like I feel like I should have done better and stuff like that but um like I said I I think that'll pass in a little bit Court final question Jess you've always been very cleare eyed and and straightforward in terms of how you described the players who are ranked before you like egoa Arena like just their games and what they kind of represent amongst the competitive Elite of the sport I'm curious what you think you represent within kind of that question I don't really know what do you guys think I represent what are some adjectives I mean I think I I what people tell me is I always kind of have like a quiet confidence I'm pretty calm um I I feel like I'm good at I don't know I'm very aware I just have a lot of awareness and perspective I think of what my journey and you know what that Journey has been like and what it's been for me and um so I feel like I I don't know maybe I'm just the one that sees things in perspective um that sees things a little bit differently obviously my family is a little bit different as well and I think I have a good kind of um sense of where that kind of fits into my life and what it's going to be after tennis and all these other things so what's always helped me I think as I've gotten um you know High higher ranked and become a better player is just keeping that perspective and I that's helped me a lot to kind to become a better player um just having that awareness and perspective of like what tennis is for me so I I don't know if that helps but I don't know thank you everyone