Last Updated: March 13, 2023, 09:40 IST
Jessica Pegula on the Indian Wells (AP)
Jessica Pegula bought a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Anastasia Potapova to ebook her place within the fourth spherical at Indian Wells
American Jessica Pegula nonetheless finds it “bizarre” to think of herself as the world’s number three player, but she doesn’t feel any particular pressure to live up to the ranking.
The American said her ability to compartmentalize keeps her focused on each match — just as it helps her take it point by point in the kind of comeback win she needed Sunday to reach the fourth round of the Indian Wells combined WTA and ATP Masters 1000 hard court tournament.
“That was definitely a battle today,” Pegula stated after rallying for a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Anastasia Potapova, who lifted the WTA trophy in Linz final month.
“I simply felt like I began off a bit of gradual,” Pegula said. “She had some confidence, obviously going for a lot of her shots. She just won a tournament as well.
“So I’m just glad I was able to work my way back into the match and ended up playing much better than how I started.”
It marked the second straight match that Pegula needed to come from a set right down to win.
While she needed to make a concentrated effort to fireside herself up in chilly, late-night situations in opposition to Camila Giorgi, Pegula stated that in opposition to Potapova she simply tried to stay to her sport plan.
“I simply tried to remain calm and targeted on what I used to be attempting to do, particularly on my service video games,” she said. “I felt like I could break her. I was going to get chances.”
Pegula, whose two WTA titles embrace Guadalajara final yr, has reached the quarter-finals of 4 of the final 5 Grand Slams, however has but to interrupt via to the ultimate 4 of a significant.
She stated discovering herself ranked among the many world’s high gamers could have ramped up the stress “at first,” but it hasn’t changed her approach.
“I’m good at just thinking one match at a time. I think that has helped where I haven’t felt really too much pressure as being top five,” she stated.
“It’s bizarre. It’s bizarre to assume that I’m like three on the earth. I don’t even prefer to say it. I assume it’s a very good factor.”
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