Reigning Charleston champ Pegula relishes 'outlier,' balanced playstyle

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- When thinking of certain players on the WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz, a distinct aspect of their game might come to mind.

For Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova, power might be an initial thought. Coco Gauff? Movement and court coverage. But for World No. 5 Jessica Pegula, the reigning Charleston champion enjoys being the all-encompassing, balanced player.

"I'm kind of my own thing," Pegula laughed during media day at the Credit One Charleston Open. "I feel like I am kind of my own thing though. I don't really quite play as powerful as the girls -- Sabalenka, (Elena) Rybakina and maybe Anisimova. They're bigger, taller, power games, and then I think Iga (Swiatek) and Coco use a lot of their athleticism and are very athletic around the court, the spinnier forehands and able to use their movement.

"I do think I'm kind of a little bit of an outlier in a way where I just play a very balanced type of game. It's not overly athletic. I don't really look like I think I'm hitting the ball that hard, even though I still hit it pretty hard."

The American returns to South Carolina's Lowcountry as the top seed in this year's tournament, just as she was the No. 1 seed in her run to title in 2025. The Lowcountry is also the area that Pegula credits where she really developed skill for tennis at the Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head Island, just two hours south of Charleston.

As her game has evolved in the professional level, her balanced skillset has worked to Pegula's favor as she has reached the quarterfinals in each of her last nine tour-level events, including a WTA 1000 title in Dubai, a finalist finish in Wuhan and seven semifinal appearances. Arguably, despite her No. 5 ranking, Pegula is playing as a top 3 player on tour alongside Sabalenka and Rybakina, given her consistency in tournaments.

Pegula said she recognizes her size isn't as big as some of the other players on tour, but she's solid in redirecting the power hits that come her way, and taking the ball early allows her to play her way of being aggressive.

"I'm always trying to add things, and as we've seen my serve have been much better this year, so I think that's something where -- to the power side of things -- being able to serve as best you can is really important, because you can control your serve," said Pegula, who is sixth on tour in aces. "It's the one thing you can control when you're playing tennis.

Pegula, who had a first round bye, will face Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva in the second round in Charleston. The tournament is now the tour's first standalone 500 event to offer equal prize money to a 500 event on the men's tour, a change Pegula greatly appreciated. As a 10 time singles winner on the WTA Tour, she knows the added pressure of a returning champion, but it's a pressure she welcomes.

"The upside is you don't always get to be a defending champion unless you win the tournament. I think it's an honor and it's a privilege to come back as a defending champion, always, and not many people get to do that.

"It's always a balancing of happy to be back, but then maybe a little bit more pressure. I think as players, we're always aware that every week is a new week. There's a new winner every single week and you can't expect to win every single week, but you can just look at it as a new tournament, a new day, a new match, and you're still trying to complete the same goal as you were last year."

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