"He’s definitely goofy — I’m not goofy" - Pegula answers comparison claims to Tiafoe while touching on 'frustrating' rivalry with Sabalenka

Jessica Pegula is one of the many WTA talents with a realistic shot at glory in the Australian Open this year. The three-time quarter-finalist has had the chance to add the finishing touches to her game in the off-season, with the hopes that can help her defeat the best players in the world, including world number one Aryna Sabalenka.

She was quick to unveil her excitement and joy to be back in Melbourne, looking to prolong her positive start to the year. "I’m super, super excited to be back here in Melbourne," she said in her press conference. "I’ve had some really great results here before, so it’s always good feelings coming back. Everyone’s happy, kind of refreshed after taking a little bit of a break. I’m excited to kick the year off and hopefully do it in a good way."

After a hectic 2025 campaign, the American was looking forward to putting down her racket after losing in the semi-finals of the WTA Finals, cherishing time with family over the holiday period.

"We took a couple of weeks off after the WTA Finals and didn’t really pick up the rackets. I took a little bit of a break and then got right back into it," she stated. "I played some exhibitions, which was fun. I always enjoy playing those in different settings and cool venues. I spent a lot of time with family over the holidays — Thanksgiving and Christmas — and then it went by really fast."

When stepping back onto the court for good aside from those exhibitions, it was not all smooth sailing. "I was able to get some decent training in. I had a few small, nagging injuries that were a bit frustrating to deal with, but I decided to go to Brisbane, get good practice in, get used to the conditions, and I ended up playing four really good matches. That worked out perfectly. I’ve been in Melbourne since then, and I feel pretty good now."

The off-season is a time to change and adapt parts of your game for the better, with a lengthy period to get used to it before stepping back into competition mode. Pegula was one of those players looking to alter and tweak some specific shots or movements.

"This year there was definitely some stuff we really wanted to work on — things I had already started implementing at the US Open and in Asia, where I felt like I was starting to do better," she acknowledged. "So it was about building off that. As a player and coach, you don’t always have a clear idea of how you’re going to become better, but I think we kind of hit that point in Asia. That made it exciting to work on things where you feel like, 'This is actually helping me hit this shot better,' or 'This is helping me move better.' You don’t always have that feeling in the offseason, but I felt like I did this year. So I was probably more excited for my offseason training than in previous years."

Pegula has had many brilliant battles with Sabalenka in the past. Alone in the last two years they have faced off a number of times, which included a number of big finals like the US Open and Cincinnati climaxes. Sabalenka won a huge number of these, with her impressive winning streak coming to an end when Pegula finally got one over her in Wuhan. It was back to normality in the WTA Finals, but Pegula believes there is unfinished work against the four-time Grand Slam champion.

"She’s obviously beaten me more times, but I think we bring out some really good tennis in each other," she said. "Some matchups just work like that, and for me, Sabalenka is one of those. We’ve had some pretty crazy matches at a really high level.

She opened up on her annoyance to be consistently defeated by her. "It can be frustrating that I’m not getting as many wins as I feel like I could, but she’s the best player in the world right now for a reason, and she’s sustained that. She challenges me and pushes me to figure out how to become better."

Despite this, she always tends to look on the brighter side. "Even though I’ve had chances to win some of those matches, I try to take positives away from them," she commented. "Beating her on a big stage is something I’m striving for, especially at big tournaments. But running into her means I’m putting myself in good positions against the best player in the world. Once I get over the frustration, I look back and think we’ve had some really cool matches in some of the best atmospheres I’ve played in."

Pegula had planned to compete in both the Brisbane International and Adelaide International to kick off her year. After losing in the semi-finals to Marta Kostyuk in Brisbane, she made the executive decision to skip Adelaide to focus on the task at hand in Melbourne.

"It was just a change of schedule based on how things panned out," Pegula explained. "I went to Brisbane not really 100 percent and felt like I needed to play my way through some of those nagging issues and see how my body handled it.

Fortunately, it held up well, and she got some gained some important match fitness and sharpness from some tough battles. "Luckily, everything went really well. I got through some really tough matches physically, which was a great test," she said. "But I didn’t have a ton of consecutive training days, then there was travel, practice, and four straight days of matches. I didn’t want to push myself over the edge and risk re-injuring anything. So I decided not to play Adelaide, which was a bit of a bummer because I love that tournament and have great memories there, including making the final last time.

Overall, she acknowledged it was the correct decision. "At the same time, giving myself time to recover and make sure nothing else popped up was the right call. I’ve been able to get a lot of really good practice in this week, and so far so good."

One of the reporters questioned Pegula on if she had any similarities with Frances Tiafoe, to which she replied: "He’s definitely goofy — I’m not goofy," confirming the answer was a firm no.

She was in full praise of her fellow American, complimenting his relaxed persona when it comes to business on the court. "Every time I see him, he makes funny comments like, 'You’re still on the practice court?' He’s actually been asking to hit with me because the last time we did, he was top 10, and he’s like, 'I need to get that back.'

I think it’s fun how he approaches the game. He’s creative, loose, and enjoys himself on court, and that’s what makes him him. I kind of wish I could be like that, but it’s just not naturally in me. Everyone approaches tennis differently. Maybe he’s not a super stable player all the time, but on a big stage he always puts on a show, and there’s real value in that."

She hit back at critics claiming that the former US Open semi-finalist does not care. "People sometimes say he’s not taking it seriously, but at the end of the day, it’s how he wants to play and enjoy the game," she said. "You can tweak things, but you don’t want to take away what makes someone great. You have to stay true to yourself to play your best tennis."