ADVERTISEMENT
Jessica Pegula thinks playing conditions constantly changing is "the beauty of tennis"but highlights that it can be a pretty challenging thing to handle.
During this past Australian Open, the American absolutely dominated her opening two matches and she lost a total of nine games across her first two clashes.
But then, the world No. 5 never looked like herself in her next match as Olga Danilovic upset her 7-6 (3) 6-1 in the third round.
After the match, Pegula blamed the conditions and said that her first two matches - which took place during the day - were played in much faster conditions.
Against Danilovi - in a match that was scheduled for the evening session - the 2024 US Open runner-up claimed that the conditions were so slow.
Pegula: Some weeks conditions favor you, some don't...
"That's the beauty of tennis, you can play during the day, during the night, from one week to another things get vastly different," the world No. 5 explained to the WTA Insider.
ADVERTISEMENT
"You just have to keep a balance of being aware of it without letting it consume you. That can be really tough.
"Some weeks, maybe the conditions completely favor one girl and completely don't favor you, and you having a bad day and it gets harder and harder. Some days it's easier than others.
"But I think the best players in the world handle it the best for sure."
This week, Pegula returned to action at the WTA 1000 tournament in Doha, where she had a first-round bye before beating Elina Svitolina 6-3 7-6 (3) to set up a round-of-16 meeting against Daria Kasatkina.
Last year, the 30-year-old skipped the Middle East swing due to injury.
But in 2023, the American had success in the Middle East after finishing as runner-up to Iga Swiatek in the Doha final and reaching the Dubai quarterfinal.
ADVERTISEMENT
Considering how her last time in Doha and Dubai went, it is safe to say that the conditions favored her last time.
It remains to be seen how it will go for Pegula this week.
