"It's hard": Jessica Pegula opens up about challenges of playing in team-based events

America’s Jessica Pegula has opened up about the challenges of playing in team-based competitions. The 31-year-old was the most high-profile player to feature in the final round of the Billie Jean King Cup. The competition concluded on Sunday, with defending champions Italy successfully defending their title.

In the final, Italy defeated Team USA with a score of 2-0. In the all-important clash, Italy managed to win both singles matches. In the first match, Elisabetta Cocciaretto secured a shocking win over Emma Navarro in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-4. In the second, and what turned out to be a deciding match, Pegula suffered a defeat to Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 6-2.

Pegula appeared on The Player's Box Podcast before the semifinal against Great Britain, where Team USA came out on top with a score of 2-0. In that contest, Navarro defeated Sonay Kartal in the first match with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. In the second match, Pegula proved too good for Katie Boulter and came out on top with a score of 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

In the podcast, Pegula discussed in detail the challenges players face in team-based competitions. Pegula stated that the format becomes challenging because it is something the players are not used to playing for 90 per cent of the year. Pegula noted that a lot of players have no idea what the rules of the competition are.

“I wake up to a lot of tests, mostly from our chat and then our players box podcast chat,” said Pegula. “The content I get waking up in the morning entertains me for the next two hours through breakfast. I'm just sitting there eating and scrolling and I still miss stuff and I have to go all the way back. And I'm like, wait, I gotta scroll back because that was really funny and I didn't talk about it. But yeah, we're at BJK Cup."

She continued by saying: "We won yesterday and we play again tomorrow. We have a day off today. Play Great Britain tomorrow in the semis. I feel like we should talk a little bit about the format just because I always see a lot of people commenting on how it works and how some people are like, oh, why isn't this person playing or why isn't that person playing or like, how are the teams kind of set and decided? And just like the format is much different than what we play 90, you know, 80 percent of the year.”

Pegula then also went on to explain how losing in a team-based competition makes it difficult for players as other are dependent on every result as well. Pegula stated that in such competitions, when you lose, you just want to apologise to your team members because you let them down in one way or another. Pegula stated that the feeling of losing amplifies when you are featuring in a competition like the Billie Jean King Cup.

“That's what you always feel though,” said Pegula. “Like when you lose, you feel so, I just feel like I'm like, I'm just so sorry. Like, I don't, I'm just so sorry. Like, I don't know like how else, like when you lose yourself, you're not, you don't really feel like sadness, like for, I don't know, you you're like pissed or frustrated or you're like hard on yourself. I feel like it's different in a team. Like you feel sorry for like everybody it's like amplified. You just feel like you really let them down. It's hard."