"Always wanted to be Number One and win Grand Slams": Jessica Pegula hasn't altered goals whether tangible or not

As the WTA Finals approach, Jessica Pegula reflects on her rise to the top of women’s tennis, her mindset, and the lessons she’s learned along the way. Speaking ahead of the season-ending showpiece, Pegula shared how experience, perspective, and self-belief continue to shape her journey.

Pegula attacks the WTA Finals this year having had an up and down year. She started off in the spring to early summer perhaps as the best player in the world but that dissipated and she found wins hard to come by at times in the year something that can get a player of her obvious ability down.

The American admits the pressure cauldron of that does exist and that being a top player adds that extra layer. But she still got in months in advance to the WTA Finals and so her season in reality was very much one to remember in other facets.

“Being able to speak something into existence doesn’t happen to everybody,” Pegula said. “It’s a different feeling, I think, when you know you’ve been a top ten player or a top five player. You feel different — you feel like you have an edge a little bit. You feel maybe more pressure, but you also feel more experience, more knowledge.”

That confidence has been built over time, through consistency and perseverance rather than one defining breakthrough. “There have been a lot of moments where I’ve been really happy,” she explained. “I don’t think there’s ever one pivotal moment, but there’s been a lot, to be honest. And it’s hard, though. With tennis, you’re happy if you win a tournament or you win a big match, and then you kind of go on to the next week and it restarts all over.”

For Pegula, finding joy amid the grind has become a conscious effort. “I think it can be tough to remember and embrace those happy moments,” she admitted. “So I’ve tried to do a better job over the last few years of really embracing it when I’ve won a tournament or a big match or had a great week where I felt like I was playing really well and it was fun.”

From a young age, Pegula’s ambitions were clear. “My dreams and ambitions were always, I always wanted to be number one in the world,” she said. “I always wanted to be a professional tennis player. I wanted to win Grand Slams. And I feel like those are all still the same.”

She often finds herself reflecting on that journey from childhood dreams to professional reality. “Going back to perspective, it’s pretty crazy that when you’re a six- or seven-year-old girl and then you get to be where I am, and actually have a real chance at those goals I haven’t reached yet — and then also accomplish a lot of goals that, not that I didn’t think I would, but maybe that didn’t cross my mind,” Pegula said. “That’s always something that I think is really, really cool.”

As she’s grown both as a player and a person, Pegula admits her targets have evolved in subtle ways. “I would say my goals, to be honest, are kind of the same,” she explained. “Maybe they’ve shifted a little bit deeper or more broad as I’ve gotten older. A lot of the goals for me aren’t super tangible sometimes. I think you set a lot of small steps for yourself, and every single week I’m always setting new goals.”

That sense of purpose helps her navigate the mental challenges of the sport. “Sometimes it does get really, really difficult,” Pegula said. “So I think sharing with your team, being able to talk to somebody, being able to be honest with yourself — and being positive and having a good perspective — really helps.”

Through it all, Pegula has learned to give herself permission to feel. “Sometimes it’s okay to feel a lot of emotions — whether it’s about yourself, your game, or something off the court,” she reflected. “But I think trying to keep that perspective and staying present is probably the thing that grounds me back into the right mentality with my thoughts and my process.”

As she prepares for another challenge at the WTA Finals, Pegula’s blend of ambition and perspective continues to define her. With her sights still set on the sport’s biggest prizes, she remains grounded in the same mindset that brought her here — one built on steady growth, self-awareness, and belief that she’s still just getting started.