"I could tell she was playing well, and I was just kind of, like, here we go again" - Jessica Pegula highlights mental changes as she comes on top in another three-set battle

Jessica Pegula seems unstoppable at the moment. She is now seven matches unbeaten with Jelena Ostapenko her latest victim in a controlled 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph to book her spot in the last-16 of Indian Wells. She kept focused on the task at hand throughout, not letting the frustration get to her in the early stages, as she touched on what aspects of her game she has focused on to become a better player.

Ostapenko came flying out of the blocks, taking the first set before going into a 3-1 lead in the second. Pegula was not fazed and would win the next five games of the set to level it up. She repeated the goods at the end of the third set to seal another huge victory and take her one step closer to more WTA 1000 glory.

"Playing Jelena is always really tough, can be very frustrating with the way she's able to hit winners and take time away," she began in her press conference, offering her praises towards a tricky opponent. "Yeah, can be really hard. So luckily I was able to just hold onto my serve there in the second set and find chances to break, but yeah, it was really tough.

While she did go behind, there was no period where she pinpointed herperformance for being under-par. "To be honest, I didn't think I really played that bad at any point. I actually thought I played pretty well throughout the entire match. If anything, was able to kind of pick up my level towards the end."

Pegula has become a master of winning in three sets, but it is becoming a burden for her to win the tough way, with some frustrations coming out early, or at least for her standards. "I think I was a little more animated than I usually am today, probably in a negative way of just showing some frustration, especially early on, because I could tell she was playing well, and I was just kind of, like, here we go again, I'm going to have to do this again. I was maybe hoping she started off worse."

However, she hinted that she was calm on court. "But I think today was a little bit, and I had to kind of snap myself back and kind of lock in to not let that get away from me, because then obviously it starts to affect everything. I kept telling myself I wasn't actually playing bad."

Unlike her opponent, who was feeling it a bit more, the American kept her cool throughout and it was a big reason why she finished on top. "It's one thing you're frustrated you're not playing well. I didn't think I was playing bad. I thought I was playing pretty well," she acknowledged. "It was just letting a couple chances, couple breaks here and there, maybe a couple shots that I could have been more aggressive on. So I think just having to check myself at a certain point in the match, for sure, just to kind of make sure I was still thinking clearly and not really getting, you know, run over with emotion."

Pegula was wary when facing off against the former Roland Garros champion, knowing the level she could produce and the detrimental factor that could have on court. "I think you have to kind of go in knowing that she can come out playing really well or at any point play really well, but then you also know sometimes she can go off, because she plays very high risk."

Her wishes for a slow start were instantly abolished, and the world number five knew she was in a tennis match. "You just kind of hope, a lot of hope that maybe she starts off not great and you can kind of jump on it early and maybe kind of get that lead, or, as my case today, I think she came out playing some really good tennis. It took a little bit for me to find some holes there to luckily pull that out."

There was a blueprint she was falling back on from the start of the match, but she was happy to adapt and adjust to give her the edge in those crucial moments. "I mean, I think you go in with your strategy, you go in having to feel out a little bit how she's starting the match, how is she playing, how are you playing, and then I think you adjust from there. For example, today I think I knew she came out playing pretty well, and I knew I was going to have to kind of dig in and find my chances, you know, when they came."

Pegula is not only one of the best players in the world, but one of the most inform at this current moment after winning the title in Dubai. She has been at the top end of the rankigs for a few years now and is a regular when it comes to going deep into tournaments.

She uses these experiences to her own good. "I do think as you gain experience and you get in those moments and you become a better player, you can really kind of feel momentum swings a lot," she explained. "Even when they're about to come, if you stopped a momentum swing, you know, there is definitely ways that a match kind of moves where I feel like you can, I don't know, you have like your, like, I don't know what the word is, but you just, you kind of know what's gonna happen."

The journalist compared it to a sixth sense, in which the 32-year-old saw the similarities. "Yeah, you have like a sense, I think your finger on the pulse a little bit of how the match is coming about or what big points are, big moments are," she commented. "I think if you played, some commentators can kind of pinpoint those moments from watching, but I think for maybe sometimes a person that hasn't played tennis or it's just a fan, you don't quite realise it as much than if you're a player."

The temperatures are set to rise a stark amount in the next few days with that having an impact on the playable conditions, suiting some players but also forcing them to adapt their game and adjust to the new trends of the ball.

Pegula is yet to play in the blistering heat, but has had a chance to play at day and night. "I played one match at night. It was fairly cool. Today it was really nice out, to be honest, just kind of a nice day, not overly hot," she unveiled.

She has trained in temperatures rising to over 30 degree Celcuis. This gives her a slight advantage as she knows what to expect in every condition. "I was here the first few days where it was pretty hot, 90-plus. It definitely flies and plays much faster when it's hotter," she analysed. "When it's cooler, it kind of slows down a little bit the conditions."

If she had to have a preference, the hotter conditions are the ones for her. "So I usually like playing in a more hotter, faster type of environment, and then obviously we have the wind too. Sometimes it can get really windy and that definitely plays a part. It's just tough. You always have to adjust and kind of adapt day to day."

The American is currently on a seven-match unbeaten streak. In the three tournaments she has compelted this year, the semi-finals has been the benchmark with the title in Dubai a hard fought but a deserving one. She will be desperately hoping to add Indian Wells to her collection as she looks to improve as a player both from a technique and mental point of view.

Concentration has bee a key factor in producing the shots she would be hoping for. "I do think there are definitely some things I focus on like covering certain serves, trying to serve well, whatever, you know, if it's serving wide or serving T or hitting your spots a little bit better. I think when you can hone in and focus on certain things, everything else gets a little more quiet and you're able to just focus on one thing at a time."

She manages to shrug off the frustration at times to focus on the task at hand, not letting her vision get clouded. "I think when you're starting to get a little emotional or frustrated, that's something that can kind of just reset you and bring you back, because at least for me, at the end of the day, when I play well and I get out of a tough match like today, it's because I'm thinking clearly," she stated, using her win against Ostapenko as an example. "Even if I'm in trouble, I'm thinking about what serves to cover, where to hit certain shots, where I should serve, where the first ball should go."

Admitidly, sometimes it is just not your day but this has helped Pegula become a better player and a staple at the top of the WTA. "It doesn't always work, but I think when you can focus on that, it just allows yourself to take some pressure off and play a little bit more freely," she concluded.