The American tennis star, who turned 31 in February, is a kind of late bloomer since she was 28 when she started making her first big results and establishing herself as one of the best players in the game.
With consistent play and good results, Pegula started seeing her fan base increase over the last couple of years. However, it’s not only the American’s play that makes her one of the favorite players among fans – it is her personality. On the court, the world No. 4 is usually as composed as it gets – she stays away from controversies – and it is not a secret that she is well admired and respected in the locker room.
In the latest episode of Caroline Garcia’s Tennis Insider Club podcast, Pegula was a guest on the show. And when addressing her calm nature during one segment of the show, the 2024 US Open finalist had a revelation to make.
Pegula: I always kind of had a bad attitude when I was growing up and no one liked it
“When I was growing up, everyone always, and I say everyone is in, my parents or my coaches at the time, like never really liked my attitude. I always kind of had a bad attitude. Okay. And so not a bad attitude, but they’d say, you know, you look like you don’t care. Passive kind of thing,” the 31-year-old shared.
“And I’d be like, so then I kind of got this complex, like they were trying to get me to be fired up and I’d be like, that’s okay, but like, I can’t do that, so do I do it? Yeah. So then I get mad. I think then I just started kind of being more emotional and maybe a little bit more like bad attitude.
“It’s funny now people are. I get so many compliments like, oh, you’re so calm and I love your presence on the court. I’m like, it’s so funny ’cause like I felt like my whole teenage year. I was just being told how to act. Yeah. What to be, what to do. And I had no idea like what my personality was.”
Meanwhile, Pegula is currently playing in front of her home fans at the Cincinnati Open, where she had a first-round bye before beating Kimberley Birrell. Next up for the No. 4 seed is Magda Linette.
