Pegula awaits the new Australian gem: "He has nothing to lose"

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🎾 Maya Joint vs Jessica Pegula

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She ended the season injured, had to shorten her preparation, dropped out in the first week of the 2025 calendar, but that has not stopped her from reaching the final in Adelaide in her first event. We're talking about Jessica Pegula and her landing in this Australian Open, where she has been a quarterfinalist three times. With the recent experience of narrowly missing out on winning a Grand Slam, the American should be even more dangerous, but her first-round opponent brings the danger: Maya Joint. Be very careful with this 18-year-old Australian who is already close to the top 100 and promises thrilling matches. What does Jess think about all this? Here were her reflections to the press.

Ready to debut

“It's always nice to have a good first week in the calendar, it's how you always hope to start chaining matches, the best way to test yourself physically after the knee injury I suffered in Saudi Arabia. I think I have everything I felt I needed before coming here, I'm super excited to debut tomorrow.”

Late start of the season

“I've just overcome a knee issue, it all started in Asia and then continued in Saudi Arabia, it was something I thought would go away. In Riyadh, I don't know if it's due to playing indoors, sometimes it's hard on the body. Everything flared up, but I could manage it in the preseason, although it hasn't been perfect. I would have loved to be in Brisbane, but I couldn't get enough training before flying, I wasn't ready. I needed an extra week, so in the end, I got it. Obviously, if I had lost early in Adelaide, I wouldn't be saying this, but fortunately, everything worked out, now I feel pretty good.”

Intermittent preseason

“At first, it was difficult, it's all about pressing again, although we had to stop for a few days and start over. It was frustrating in a way, I felt like I couldn't do as much as I wanted, but there are still many things we need to work on that are not related to the knee injury. Honestly, I haven't had time to work on everything, things have gone too fast, but this week has helped me a lot. Now I hope to continue implementing some things during the tournaments.”

Ranking is not the top priority

“Even though the ranking is no longer my priority, it is clear that it is always a goal. Similarly, I knew that if I pushed too soon from the start and then regressed, I wouldn't defend many points later on. I want to be healthy, especially in the first part of the year, as I don't defend many points. Then in the second half, I defend a few more. I have a long-term plan, now what I wanted was to take an extra week and arrive here well prepared, as we are at the Grand Slam.”

Review of 2024

“It was a year of ups and downs, with injuries, changes in coaching, health issues, a lot happened. Now, if I can get back to normal and put together a couple of weeks, I'm sure the results will come. I've shown myself that I don't need as many matches as I thought, I can still find confidence that way to play good tennis, even if the matches are not perfect. 2024 is a good example that I can play great tennis despite adversities, doing well in a Slam beating top players. It was a challenge, but also a reminder that I'm still a top-level player. Being healthy, I don't need as much time to regain that confidence.”

Debut against Maya Joint

“I remember watching her play against Madison (Keys) at the US Open, then I saw her results in Brisbane, although she also played very well in Hobart. She seems like a very good, young, talented player. Coming here, she has nothing to lose, she's a wildcard, she comes with confidence from last week. It will be a very tough match, I only have one day to adjust to the conditions, and with all the rain, it complicates things. I also come from a great week, so I feel pretty good, but it's always difficult to face a player you barely know from the circuit. She has nothing to lose, so I'll take it as a good challenge, surely the crowd will be fully involved having an Australian on the court.”

Experience from her last US Open

“It's a challenge to stand tall for two weeks, it's not easy, Slams can be very stressful and the days very long, there are a lot of people, everything is full of stimuli. I learned a lot from the last US Open, I learned to balance things, taking on the challenge of playing well in Toronto and Cincinnati, refocusing for another two weeks without dropping too much physically and mentally. All of that helped me at the US Open. I learned a lot from the whole month, accumulating many matches and trying to win big matches, playing your best tennis every day. I hope that experience helps me these two weeks and the rest of the year.”

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Pegula espera a la nueva perla australiana: “No tiene nada que perder”