THE MODERATOR: We'll get started. Jess, welcome back to Toronto. Obviously a tournament you've had a ton of success in, just how special is it to be playing pack here once again?
JESSICA PEGULA: Really excited to be back here. I have a lot of really great memories here. I love playing in Canada. I think my results have always shown that. So I'm really happy to be back. A quick turnaround for me, but what else is new in the tennis world, it's always kind of quick. So I'll try to do my best to be ready to go tomorrow.
THE MODERATOR: Questions?
Q. Speaking of that quick turnaround, you obviously played Alex in the final in DC. Curious, from your perspective, how is she a different player from the one you played at the Miami Open last year?
JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I would say, I don't know, I think just experience and confidence being at that level. I think too, like probably learning how to manage her emotions throughout a match a little bit better. Whereas Miami, everything was new, new, new, and she was playing I think with a lot of energy and adrenaline.
I think now obviously having established herself on tour as a top player, having a lot of big wins to follow that tournament up, I think that just, at least in my experience, you learn how to manage kind of your emotions a little bit better throughout a tournament. I think she did a really great job of that, and was able to really come out and play some great tennis, especially after the delay.
Q. Also on the DC final, it was a little bit bizarre just seeing the momentum shift flip. That wasn't the only time that that happened with Alex and her opponent. Even Naomi, she was on a run of winning a whole bunch of points in games. Have you ever experienced that personally of your opponent kind of having that much of a momentum shift and maybe your level not being as high? Also, why do you think that that was the case in DC where Alex kind of had those runs of form?
JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I think the way that she plays, with taking the ball really early and super aggressive. To me, girls that kind of play like that, they can go on swings of momentum very quickly because everything starts happening very fast if you're the opponent.
Like, all of a sudden she's changing the ball, taking it early, hitting winners, you're out of position, and things kind of move quickly. I think that's probably one of the reasons why you see that sometimes in her matches, or why she can flip matches really quickly, if she can kind of find her range, and let's say the other person isn't maybe doing a good enough job of getting her out of rhythm. So I think that's one of the reasons that you've seen that.
Sometimes it just comes down to you have those weeks where, I mean, I've had those weeks where, for whatever reason, I come back after losing the first set every single match, or I'm always down a break.
I think I had a couple matches in DC as well where I kind of didn't start off great, and then I was able to flip the momentum really quickly.
I think we play a little bit similar in that aspect, where we can kind of start taking the ball early, and I think playing really quickly, and kind of like take time away from our opponents. So I think that's one of the things strategically.
Then sometimes I think it's just those weeks where sometimes you're just, you don't figure it out until after you lose the first set. I've definitely had those weeks where that happens to me as well.
The rain delay was tough. I felt like I was playing much better tennis on Sunday than I did on Monday.
For whatever reason, I just wasn't quite seeing the ball. I came out a little bit flat. We had a really long day Sunday. I think she was playing a little bit better.
So just the difference of me not playing as well and her playing better is the difference of the match kind of changing, which is unfortunate.
Like, I felt like, I have no idea if I would have won, obviously, on Sunday. I think at the time, having won the first set, and I think I almost broke her kind of at the end of the second before we stopped. So I did feel like I had more of the momentum.
Also I think, with the way she plays, with playing a lefty, with her serve kind of being hard to return and all that stuff, like having that momentum, being able to keep that, I thought I was returning much better. Whereas, I came out Monday and I feel like I returned absolutely horrible.
So just, like, losing that momentum really quickly, it's always easier when you find it to kind of keep it than having to come back and start all over again.
Q. Not sure if we've granted you honorary Canadian status yet with you living so closely, and I think you said two years ago that your grandparents are Canadian as well. Can you speak to your comfort level playing up north here and the success that you've obviously enjoyed both in Montreal and here in Toronto?
JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, ever since I was playing, even like challenger events, I always tend to like Canada.
I like the courts. I like the conditions. I think it plays a little bit quicker. I think my game has always kind of catered to those conditions, when I can at least figure it out and put a couple matches together.
I don't know, something about the atmosphere and just feeling like I'm kind of playing in my backyard has always really helped me do well here.
Last year I didn't quite have as good a results as I wanted to, but hopefully this year I can change that. I think always just going back to all the confidence and good results I've had in the past years, even if last year wasn't amazing, I think I can always fall back onto that, that when I can kind of find my game here I can play really good tennis on these courts.
Q. Out there in your practice I saw you were working pretty much entirely on the serve today. Is that directly because of the final and the way things ended in DC, or was that today's sort of practice plan regardless?
JESSICA PEGULA: No, it actually wasn't part of any plan. We were supposed to be out there for like 45 minutes, and two hours later, almost late to press, and here I am.
So, yeah, it was just one of those things where we're just working on a lot of different stuff. But it wasn't anything bad, it was just like problem solving. Like, I'm very, sometimes I just need to feel things out.
I was in a good mood today. It wasn't like, I think sometimes you can kind of over practice where you're in a bad mood and you're kind of negative and it's making things worse.
Today was a little bit more like, Hey, like, I kind of want to get this feeling back on my serve, and I've been wondering why this serve seems a little bit harder to hit than it used to. So we were messing around.
I didn't really hit that many serves. We were going pretty slow, just talking through things. Yeah, honestly, just kind of having fun and figuring out a couple things.
Q. You played with Jack Draper in the US Open mixed doubles last year. Just curious, what was the challenge to kind of develop some rapport with him on the fly, because I'm not sure how familiar you two guys were. Also, did you feel that the mixed doubles maybe helped your singles prep?
JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I think it for sure helped my prep. First of all, being able to, I mean, obviously you hope, I think that's why we play a little bit, is to get out there and get that feeling.
But to be able to play three matches on Ashe and then I actually played every single match on Ashe my entire tournament there to the semis.
So I think that definitely helps, being able to play with little bit of pressure, you know, a full crowd, a nice atmosphere. Just to get out there and being able to win a few matches, I think that's always going to give you a little bit of confidence, no matter what.
You always hope that it's the case where it helps you in singles. Obviously you could lose first round and it maybe doesn't really do much for you.
I think last year, coming off a tough summer where I didn't really have great results, I think that it definitely really helped, and kind of propelled me into having a really good US Open and a really good Asian swing as well.
But, yeah, Jack, we really didn't talk. Like you said, we barely knew each other. Literally don't think we said two words to each other. Not intentionally. I don't feel like we ran in the same circle, for whatever reason.
But now, yeah, I would say we're friends, and we kind of check in on each other every once in a while.
I know that he's been really struggling a bit with some injuries, and I saw today he had a really tough day with his match.
I mean, I don't know if we're going to, we're supposed to play. Obviously I know he's not healthy, so we'll see how that goes.
But, yeah, I've always since then been a very big fan, and it's been fun to kind of watch him. He's a really nice kid, so I enjoy playing with him.
Yeah, it was kind of weird how our personalities somehow didn't mix, but at the same time they did. It was kind of weird.
So it was funny, and he had a lot of funny comments, so hoping that he can just get healthy and we can see him back out there.
Q. How have the last 24 to 48 hours been for you both mentally and physically? I know you mentioned in DC that it was tough having to wait on Sunday and then having to play the match Monday and then coming back just, yeah, mentally, physically, how are you feeling right now?
JESSICA PEGULA: Yeah, I mean, it was tough. I didn't come into DC with a lot of great prep, honestly. I really wasn't planning on playing. I ended up coming, kind of having to play.
I got sick kind of at the same time when I started training. So I did feel like it was great I didn't have to play until Thursday. But then also it was tough having to play Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then Monday, back-to-back-to-back-to-back, not being able to really take any days off now because of getting pushed back and having to play so quickly here.
That's always a good problem to have, but I think for sure Sunday, if I'm being completely honest, like, I was really tired.
I actually thought Monday I felt better because at least I got to kind of go home and sleep after a really long day. But that doesn't mean anything, clearly, because I came out and was kind of flat that day. So maybe it would have been better on Sunday when I didn't feel as well.
It's been a little tricky, but I think at the same time these are what these weeks are for. I always use it as a challenge because I think when it comes up to these longer events and coming into a slam, like you're going to have days where you feel a little bit run down, only have a day of recovery, maybe you're not feeling well, things can happen.
So I think I always kind of use it as a way, not to be like, Oh, it's a bad-case scenario. I think it's just, Okay, what do I have to do to reset a little bit mentally and physically to kind of give myself the best chance for the next match. I feel like that's kind of what I've been doing the last couple days.
I had a pretty easy travel situation. I drove from Buffalo a couple hours, so that part at least was really easy, yeah.
Q. There's been a lot of talks recently in Montreal about the necessity of modernizing the facilities, that you know well, and everybody agrees on it. I was just curious, how do you view the Toronto venue here, and how does it compare to other 1000 events?
JESSICA PEGULA: I mean, I always like that it seems very, I always say, like, very Canadian. It's very quaint and simple and it's, like, easy. I've always appreciated that. Of course, I always think there's room for upgrades.
It's a little bit different. Because it's not a joint event, I don't think you, like, notice things as much. Whereas, if there was double the amount of people here you would obviously be like, Okay, we need space, this needs to be bigger, this needs to be bigger, this needs to be newer.
But honestly, I feel like it's fine. I don't get to see the outside fan experience. I'm sure, like, some stadium upgrades of course, like, are always necessary I think to grow the events.
Same thing in Montreal, I think it's a bit of an older facility. I think every year it seems like they really try to improve at least the player areas of, you know, the locker rooms the showers, that type of stuff.
To me, my mind always goes to space. So maybe having a bit more space would be nice, as far as like the gym area. I haven't even been over to the food area, but I think it's much bigger this year, which is nice to have.
So, I mean, there's always room for improvement every single year. As far as these events single-handedly, I honestly don't notice it as much, just because I'm not used to having to share it with the men, so it seems a little bit easier.
I think Canadian tennis is kind of growing and they want to keep growing these events, so I'm sure they're going to have to do some upgrades maybe to the stadiums and stuff.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports