Jessica Pegula on preparing for a Grand Slam in quarantine

What this episode covers

While her Buffalo Bills have ended their 2021 season, Jessica Pegula is just starting her campaign Down Under. The world No. 64 has been in modified quarantine for two weeks as she prepares for the Yarra Valley Classic WTA 500 in Melbourne.  Pegula turned a corner in her career in 2019 when she cracked the Top 100 for the first time and won her first WTA title in Washington, D.C. The 26-year-old started 2020 with a run to the Auckland final and during the summer in New York she picked up wins over Jennifer Brady, Amanda Anisimova and Aryna Sabalenka.  Pegula has big goals in mind on the court, but she's also got a lot going on off it as she's planning to get married this fall. She explains what went into postponing her wedding from 2020 and how she's kept very zen about it all.  She's just nine spots shy of her career-high ranking of No. 55 and gives her perspective on how rankings can affect a player's mindset.Though preparing for a Grand Slam in quarantine isn't ideal, Pegula and her coach David Witt have been making the most of it with five hours of outdoor time per day (72 players weren't so lucky). Pegula teamed up with Witt, the former longtime coach of Venus Williams, just before her title win in D.C. She zoned in on working as hard as possible during all of the time off last year with great results, and she hopes it pays off in 2021, too.  Watch TENNIS.com Podcast episodes on YouTube and Facebook. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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