“It’s very therapeutic for us”: Jessica Pegula on new podcast with Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady and Desirae Krawczyk

Jessica Pegula surprised fans in a new role a couple of weeks ago while competing at the US Open. The World No. 7 joined her colleagues and friends Madison Keys, Desirae Krawczyk, and Jennifer Brady to enter the podcast world with the launch of "Player’s Box."

On the podcast, the 31-year-old co-hosts with her compatriots to discuss the current ATP and WTA Tours—but even more so, the insights of life as a player, detailing the behind-the-scenes action while they have fun and joke together. This new venture by Pegula and company has garnered over 80,000 views so far and has become a new way to get to know the American stars.

Pegula is competing at the China Open this week, where she debuted with a convincing victory over Ajla Tomljanovic by 6-0, 6-3 and advanced to the third round, where she will face former US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

In a press conference from Beijing, one of the topics Pegula touched upon was her recent appearance on the podcast, and how it has been somewhat "therapeutic" for both her and her colleagues. "Once we filmed the first one, we were like, 'Oh, we can definitely do this,'" commented Pegula. "People keep listening to it and feeling like a lot of comments I see, it feels like we're just on a phone call with you guys, or we are sitting and having coffee with you, or having a glass of wine, or we're on FaceTime with you and that is kind of how it feels to us, too... it's very therapeutic for us to talk about things that are happening on the road."

Pegula had a complex challenge ahead of her against Tomljanovic, who, despite being far from her best level for some time—and only ranking World No. 94—is a heavyweight name on the Tour with the credentials to challenge the best when she is physically fit.

However, the match was an absolute dominance by Pegula, who had a practically perfect first set—winning 80% of service points and 68% of return points, in addition to securing three breaks on five opportunities. The American dominated and took her chances to claim the first set 6-0 in just 22 minutes.

In the second set, Pegula continued to maintain her composure, and it didn't take her long to secure a break that put her ahead. Around the fourth game, Pegula took the first break and pulled ahead, maintaining great effectiveness on her serve, although she found Tomljanovic fine-tuning her own serve. Regardless, the American did not lose her composure and held onto her serve until the end of the match. Without securing any new break opportunities, she ended up taking the second set—and the win 6-0, 6-3, advancing to the third round.

Her next challenge will be one of the marquee matches of the Round of 32, as she will face 30th seed Emma Raducanu—who had a great debut by defeating Cristina Bucsa. The Brit and Pegula have three previous meetings, with Pegula leading the head-to-head 2-1.