“Something I’ll always remember, nothing like playing for your country” - Jessica Pegula on 'incredible' experience representing USA at Paris Olympics

Jessica Pegula recently talked about her experience representing the United States of America in tennis at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This was Pegula's second appearance at the Olympic Games, following her debut in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics.

Currently, Pegula is competing at the 2024 Cincinnati Open where she is seeded sixth. After receiving a first-round bye, she kicked off her campaign in the second round by defeating Karolina Muchova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 and then overcame compatriot and qualifier Taylor Townsend 6-2, 6-3 in the third round.

In the quarterfinals, Jessica Pegula emerged victorious over Leylah Fernandez 7-5, 6-7(1), 7-6(3) to secure her place in the semifinals of the WTA 1000 hard court tournament in Cincinnati.

Following her win over Fernandez, Pegula spoke with "Tennis Channel" about her experience at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Seeded fifth in the tournament, Pegula reached the second round at the Games before falling to Elina Svitolina 6-4, 1-6, 3-6.

The World No. 6 said she felt she was playing really well and her performance against Svitolina was "super high level" even though she lost the match.

“I won Berlin, played some great tennis, didn't have the best Wimbledon, then at the Olympics I felt like I was playing really well. The week before practising there, even the match against [Elina] Svitolina was super high level. I was like, ‘I feel like I’m playing really good,’ and so I think it started to kind of build up from there and then it was just reps, matches and getting that match play in,” Pegula said [3:00].

Jessica Pegula said that being at the Olympics was a different and special feeling, watching many athletes from different sports was "crazy" to her and a moment she couldn't describe properly.

“It's just different. Being around all the other athletes and watching how many events are going on I mean it’s just crazy to me and I’ve said it before that they have so much pressure to perform. At least we have the four Slams and then of course the Olympics is still only four years for us, like for Novak. I mean to see how special it is, you can’t really put words to it,” Jessica Pegula said [3:40].

Pegula also talked about her experience of playing on Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland Garros and said that representing the USA was a moment she would cherish for years to come.

“It was so much fun and when I played Svitolina on [Court Philippe] Chatrier, I’ve never played in an absolutely full Chatrier. I mean it was incredible and they were chanting for her, chanting for me. They just loved the energy and it was probably one of the coolest matches I played and even though I lost, it was definitely something I’ll always remember. Nothing like playing for your country. So there's not a lot of words, it was cool,” she added [4:02].

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Jessica Pegula will face Paula Badosa in Cincinnati Open 2024 SF

Jessica Pegula (L) and Paula Badosa (R) [Source: Getty]

Jessica Pegula will take on Paula Badosa in the semifinals of the 2024 Cincinnati Open. Badosa used her protected ranking to secure a spot in the main draw of the WTA 1000 hard-court tournament in Cincinnati.

The Spaniard defeated wild card Peyton Stearns 6-2, 7-5, and 13th seed Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2 in the first and second rounds, respectively.

The former World No. 2 then overcame Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-4 in the third round and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals to secure her place in the semifinals, where she will face the Canadian Open winner, Jessica Pegula.

Jessica Pegula and Paula Badosa have faced each other twice on the WTA Tour, with the American emerging victorious on both occasions. Their most recent match-up was the quarterfinals of the 2023 Charleston Open, where Pegula secured a 6-3, 7-6(6) win.