Jessica Pegula is gunning for her first major singles title at the Australian Open after tweaking her schedule last year to boost her chances of clinching a Grand Slam.
At 30, Pegula has already made her mark in doubles, notably with American prodigy Coco Gauff. The pair soared to no.1 in the rankings and bagged five titles. However, a surprising second-round departure at the Olympics prompted both Pegula and Gauff to rethink their commitment to doubles.
In a strategic move last September, Pegula, whose father Terry is a billionaire sports mogul, skipped the US Open doubles to focus on singles, where she stormed into the New York final, her most impressive major performance to date. She had previously acknowledged that there were no plans for her and Gauff to team up again as they both set their sights on individual success.
“For me, I’m not sure. I know Coco doesn’t really, isn’t interested in playing, or at least I’m not, we’re not thinking of playing, so I probably will take it easy on the doubles the rest of the year, so, yeah, we’ll see,” Pegula said back in August amidst her triumph at the Canadian Open, reports the Express.
“I think I’ll just play maybe whenever I kind of want to,” she added. “And maybe just focus on singles the rest of the year.”
Pegula’s strategy proved fruitful as she reached her first Grand Slam final just a month later. Now, with the new tennis season underway, the 30-year-old has already made a strong start, reaching the Adelaide International final and feeling optimistic about her chances at the Australian Open.
“I think the conditions suit my game, plays like medium fast, you know, the balls kind of fly through the air,” Pegula told Stan Sport. “So I think it just suits the way that I hit the ball, at least that’s what I think.
“I always feel very comfortable playing here and every time I come here, I feel like I can play some really good tennis every day at all the different tournaments in Australia. So I don’t know why that is, but sometimes there’s just places that you play good tennis. Here is one of them.”
Pegula had previously achieved three consecutive quarter-final finishes at the Australian Open before last year. On Monday, she progressed to the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Australian Maya Joint, setting up a match against Belgium’s Elise Mertens on Wednesday.
