Jessica Pegula était si proche et si loin... L'Américaine rêvait de remporter son premier titre du Grand Chelem samedi soir, à la maison, à l'US Open. Malheureusement pour elle, la native de Buffalo a buté sur Aryna Sabalenka, 7-5, 7-5. Pegula regrettera sans doute un moment la perte de la deuxième manche. Elle menait 5-3 et a servi pour revenir à un set partout avant de finamement céder. Cette défaite n'enlève rien au formidable été de Pegula, qui a remporté le WTA 1000 de Toronto, atteint la finale à Cincinnati. Lundi, Pegula sera à nouveau 3e mondiale et aura sans doute un nouvel objectif bien en tête : aller chercher un premier titre du Grand Chelem en 2025.
Vidéo : @US Open
Vidéo : @US Open
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00:00Yeah. Um, super tough match today. Obviously, I would love to be in a third set right now,
00:08but, um, I guess, relatively speaking, happy that I was able to at least give my chances
00:13to win a set considering, you know, I was down in the first and in the second. So, um,
00:19was able to find some good tennis, just wasn't quite able to sustain it. Um, and yeah, congrats
00:24to her. I think she played some big tennis and some big moments. Thank you. Name and
00:29affiliation. One question each at McGrogan, tennis.com. Um, the EGA match, the Makoa match,
00:36this match all within like 72 hours. Like if you had a chance to kind of even take that
00:42all in just, these were just one after the other, probably not. Cause I'm just annoyed
00:46that I lost right now. And everyone's like, Oh, congrats. Amazing tournament. And I'm
00:50like, eh, like whatever. So I think maybe once I decompress a little bit, um, you know,
00:58I'm sure I will be a little bit more appreciative and see all of that at some point. Uh, I should
01:03probably do that at some point, but, um, yeah, it's been kind of a crazy, uh, crazy couple
01:09days. So, um, hopefully I'll get some time after this to kind of just relax and, um,
01:16just, you know, look back at what I've been able to do the last month.
01:18Just stream from the national congress tournament. Um, sometimes tennis can be so repetitive,
01:25especially if you've been around for a while, you got to experience new things, that kind
01:29of atmosphere in a final where you're the home player. Are you able to appreciate that?
01:34And during the match, were you able to take that in a little bit or were you just locked
01:37in? Yeah. I mean, it was so loud when we walked out, I think with the roof being closed, it
01:42felt even louder. So, um, it was a really cool atmosphere, really cool experience. And,
01:47and obviously I was trying to, at some point to take it all in, but at the same time, try
01:51and focus on, on the match in front of me. But, um, there was definitely a couple moments
01:56where, you know, I tried to, you know, not rush and kind of stop myself a little bit
02:01and be able to, um, yeah, appreciate that crowd noise. Cause it was definitely super,
02:05super loud. And then on the changeover, I'm always looking up and I see all the celebrities.
02:09It's kind of hard not to cause literally like right in front of us. But, uh, I was like,
02:13wow, there's definitely a lot of people here. So I thought that was pretty cool and, um,
02:17it was pretty amazing that I, you know, got to play in front of them.
02:19Sure.
02:20I know you've spoken about having had a bit of time off this year at the benefits. I just
02:27wondered, like, did you feel physically different this year compared to other years? Did you
02:32feel fresher and mentally as well?
02:33Um, beginning of the year, I would say I was burnt out. And then I think coming into this
02:38swing, I do feel fresher. I think my usually us open, I'm like, like, everything's kind
02:43of falling apart. I think a lot of girls are like that. I feel like the doctors and
02:47the physios are very busy here. Um, but actually this year I felt a lot better. And I think
02:52with the amount of matches I've actually played since Paris, just with the travel and the
02:57schedule, um, I've actually felt pretty good. So I think that's a really good sign, um,
03:03of my fitness and, um, just kind of getting back to normal than what I felt this year.
03:07I think just my immune system, like a lot of things are just a lot better and I feel
03:12like I'm in good shape now. So, um, I would say better this year, maybe compared to last
03:16year, but if we're talking about beginning of the year, I would say no, but you know,
03:20I think I've reset a little bit since then.
03:23Brian, Brian Lewis, following up on that question. I mean, obviously whatever 2022 you were third
03:31and maybe in some ways more consistent throughout the year, but would you agree with the assessment
03:36that this is your 30? This is the best tennis that you have played the level that you're
03:42at. If you do agree with that assessment, why so? And are those things that you feel
03:48you can carry on going forward next year and continue to improve?
03:52I mean, honestly, I really don't think I'm playing that much better than I was last year.
03:57Um, or other previous years. I feel like there's moments where I've played actually better.
04:02Like I've, I think I've said before, my movement and my serve, I think has gotten a little
04:06bit better. So I think there's certain parts that maybe are a little bit more consistent
04:09than they used to be. Maybe not today. I don't think I I'm sure there's other days
04:14where maybe I've served better, but I think as far as like a baseline, it's not as much
04:17as up and down throughout the weeks and through matches. And I would say the same for my movement.
04:21So I think those things have, um, improved a little bit. So I don't know if I would say
04:28I'm playing better. Does the ball feel, you know, my seeing it like a watermelon every
04:32single day? Not quite. But I think with those other things, um, maybe that's why it may,
04:39it may seem like I'm playing, you know, my best tennis, but, um, I really think it's
04:42just more working on a couple of little things that maybe weren't my strengths that have,
04:46you know, um, been a little bit better consistently.
04:50Tim, I'll shy Buffalo news. Um, if I, if I heard you correctly in the post, um, match
04:57interview, you had a pretty big contingent of family here. I think you said both your
05:01parents, I know you typically have a pretty small group. Um, what was it like to be out
05:05there with, I mean, with that kind of like personal support?
05:08Yeah, it was really cool. I had a lot of friends that were just like, I'm flying in and when
05:11I'm coming, I don't care, you know, I'm going to get off work and all this stuff. And I
05:16thought that was really cool because I feel like, um, you know, in a way not just my journey,
05:22but my friends and family have been on this journey with me as well. Um, my family, obviously,
05:26but even like some really close friends who, you know, we've sacrificed a lot of, or who
05:30have even played a little bit with me when I was younger, but I've sacrificed a lot of
05:34things that we don't really get to do together. Um, and you know, they know how it is and
05:39maybe they're played or they understand by now that, uh, we don't live a normal life.
05:43So, um, I think for them, it was really fun too, with how many maybe things I've had to
05:48miss for them, um, for them to kind of come in and, you know, see, this is why I think
05:53that's really cool. And, and, and almost in a way, like they, they've kind of earned that,
05:57you know, too. So I think it was really fun and my family, yes, of course, but for my
06:02friends to kind of fly in is, is really nice. So hopefully I get to see him tonight.
06:05David, Matt court, David.
06:06Hi Jess, David Cain, tennis.com. You said before the semifinals, you were feeling a
06:07little bit loose and, but today you started pretty well. So I'm curious what the nerves
06:08were like heading into the day and what it was like getting to speak with Steph Curry
06:09before the match started.
06:10Oh yeah. Um, yeah, today I actually felt really good and I wasn't really that nervous. I just
06:11felt like I was ready to go and it was a fun atmosphere. Obviously, um, it maybe changes
06:12once you're in the match, but I didn't feel flat. I didn't feel nervous. I just felt like
06:13I was ready to go and it was a fun atmosphere. Obviously, um, it maybe changes once you're
06:14in the match, but I didn't feel flat. I didn't feel nervous. I actually felt really good.
06:34So I thought that was a good sign. Um, I thought I handled the moment more or less pretty well
06:38besides obviously not winning, but, um, as far as everything else, I think I did a good
06:43And yeah, being able to talk to Steph, that was really cool. Um, I met him kind of briefly
06:48at the Olympics during the open opening ceremony and we traded pins, but, um, yeah, it was,
06:52it was cool for him to come out. I guess he's, you know, really wants to kind of keep supporting
06:56women's sports and get really into it. So it was really fun to meet him and also his
07:00wife and, um, funny story. My, my husband, he, like his iPhone name is Steph Curry cause
07:06he loves Steph Curry. So like if you connect to Bluetooth or like send him something or
07:11airdrop, it's Steph Curry's iPhone. And I, so I kind of left early and I, he texted
07:18me and he was so excited. He didn't like want to say anything. And I was like, please tell
07:21me you did not tell him about the iPhone thing. And he's like, Oh yeah, I did. So I thought
07:26that was really cute. And he's like, no, he loved it. And I was like, did he, or did he
07:31really think you were kind of crazy? But I guess he thought it was pretty funny. And
07:35he was like, Oh, you got to show my wife that. So, um, that was kind of a cool moment for
07:39him because he's like a diehard Steph Curry fan. And I think actually first watched him
07:43at an NC NCAA tournament in Buffalo. So he always says he's an OG fan. So that was really
07:48cool.
07:49Matt.
07:50Hey Jessica, Matt Butterman. Yeah. You have talked in the past about sort of like your
07:54incremental progress and what it's done to your confidence, like when you get to 50,
07:59when you 500, does this two weeks in this and getting to this final, do you think this
08:05fits into like one of those, this is enough to get you into sort of one of those categories
08:11of something that builds confidence for you or additional confidence?
08:16If I can't take confidence from this, I mean, there's got to be something wrong. So, I mean,
08:21I think I've taken confidence from winning a two 50 from winning a 1000 from, you know,
08:26being able to win another 1000, um, multiple ones now, and then to be able to be a grand
08:30slam finalist. I mean, I think that was kind of the last thing for me, right. It was, I
08:34made a lot of quarter finals, but can I make a semi, can I be a contender to actually win
08:38a grand slam? And, um, I mean, looking back, I, I've lost to, again, to really good player.
08:43I mean, I lost to girls that pretty much won the tournament every time. So I know my level
08:47was right there. Um, and I think maybe I handled the moment a little bit better this year,
08:52like I said before, with just having a, maybe a different perspective of, you know, I had
08:56a rough start to the year and I didn't really expect to be doing this well in the hard court
09:00swing and I was able to kind of flip that script. And so I think when I came into here,
09:05it was almost less pressure kind of in a way, because I was just happy I was in another
09:10quarter final. I didn't, you know, my slam record this year was not great. So, um, I
09:15think maybe that perspective maybe helped me through that moment. And then I was able
09:18to obviously have a great match in the semi come from behind there and, um, put myself
09:24in a chance to win a grand slam. So I think for sure, I will take a lot of confidence
09:30from this, um, and maybe like an hour or two, because like I said, I'm just kind of
09:35annoyed that not even annoyed of losing the, the tournament. I think it's more just like
09:40I wanted, I was looking at it like I just wanted to win the match, you know, and now
09:46there's like things that are just in my head that like, I feel like I should have done
09:48better and stuff like that. But, um, like I said, I think that'll pass in a little bit
09:53court. Final question, Jesse, you've always been very clear eyed and straightforward in
09:58terms of how you describe the players who are ranked before you, like ego arena, like
10:02just their games and what they kind of represent amongst the competitive elite of the sport.
10:07I'm curious what you think you represent within kind of that question. I don't really know.
10:12What do you guys think I represent? What are some adjectives? I mean, I think I, I, I, what
10:19people tell me is I always kind of have like a quiet confidence. I'm pretty calm. Um, I,
10:25I feel like I'm good at, I don't know. I'm very aware. I just have a lot of awareness
10:29and perspective. I think of what my journey and you know, what that journey has been like
10:35and what it's been for me. And, um, so I feel like, I don't know, maybe I'm just the one
10:41that sees things in perspective, um, that sees things a little bit differently. Obviously
10:46my family is a little bit different as well. And I think I have a good kind of, um, sense
10:52of where that kind of fits into my life and what it's going to be after tennis and all
10:56these other things. So what's always helped me, I think as I've gotten, um, you know,
11:02higher ranked and become a better player is just keeping that perspective. And I, that's
11:07helped me a lot to kind of, to become a better player. Um, just having that awareness and
11:11perspective of like what tennis is for me. So I, I don't know if that helps, but I don't