Jessica Pegula will be among the women aiming to win Wimbledon when the tournament starts next week but she won’t be staying in the same place as some of her competition
Jessica Pegula has revealed she will be sourcing her own accommodation for Wimbledon when the tournament starts next week instead of staying at a ‘tournament hotel’.
Pegula, 31, is the current world No.3 and heavily fancied to be in the mix for glory when Wimbledon kicks off on Monday. Aryna Sabalenka is the betting favourite ahead of the tournament, with Pegula’s career best run at the All England Club coming back in 2023 where she reached the quarter-finals.
The American is the daughter of Terry Pegula, an oil and gas businessman who is worth a whopping $7.6billion (£5.5bn) according to Forbes.
But while she was will be staying in and around Wimbledon over the coming weeks in the hopes of going deep into the tournaments, she seemingly won’t be staying on the same premises as other players.
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“It’s such a big part of our lives, and as I’ve gotten older, a good hotel has become more of a priority,” she is quoted as saying by Tennis.com.
“When you’re 20 and you’re just starting to travel, you’re not complaining that much: you’re more out there grinding and embracing life on tour. Once you hit 30 and kind of need a better pillow, that stuff honestly becomes really important!”
She went on to explain that the prospect of staying alongside people she was already seeing extensively on the tour was too much, adding: “Oh my gosh, being away from everyone else is a massive thing for me… I just felt like, ‘I can’t do [player hotels] anymore!
“When you’re staying at a tournament hotel, I feel like it’s so mentally draining. It’s not like anyone is a problem. But if you were going to work with someone, you wouldn’t necessarily want to eat breakfast with them, practice with them, be in the gym, have lunch, go to the locker room and the physio room with them, and then see them in all the elevators and the hallways.
“I don’t think people realize that shouldn’t happen, not with the people you’re working and competing with every single week. We play pretty much every week together, and so, all of that together, you’re ready to lose it!”
Pegula reached the final of the US Open last summer but is still searching for her maiden Grand Slam final; something she will be out to change at Wimbledon.