Jessica Pegula is known for her calm and composed demeanor during matches. The American rarely lets her frustration show on the court, as she steers clear of smashing rackets or having animated exchanges with her coaching box. As such, while the tennis tour’s shift to electronic line calling has eliminated the frustration of human error and its potential for costly mistakes, it has also taken away one of Pegula’s few outlets for releasing tension.
Why Jessica Pegula Misses Arguing With Tennis Umpires
Jessica Pegula recently sat down with Andrea Petkovic and Alison Riske-Amritraj on the latest episode of “The Big T Podcast” while at the 2026 Charleston Open. When asked whether she missed going to war with umpires over line calls, the world No. 5 surprisingly responded in the affirmative.
The American explained that she rarely directed frustration at her opponent, herself, or her coaching team during matches, which meant that “fighting” with the umpires used to be her primary emotional outlet on the court.
“I kind of do. It’s like the only time I feel like I show emotion. So I’ve gotten mad at umpires before. Like I don’t really get mad at like the player or myself, well sometimes myself or my team, but like I kind of miss fighting with them a little bit,” Pegula said.
While Pegula’s composure is widely admired today, there was a time when her attitude got her in trouble with her coaches and her parents. Earlier in her journey, she was accused of appearing disinterested and was told to display more intensity, which went against her natural instincts.
“When I was growing up, my parents or my coaches at the time never really liked my attitude. They’d say, you know, you look like you don’t care. So then I kind of got this complex, like, they were trying to get me to be fired up, and I’d be like, okay, but I can’t do that, so I was trying to be something that I wasn’t. And it just never worked,” she told Tennis Insider Club in 2025.
Despite the pressure to behave differently on the court during her teenage years, the American stayed true to herself. She emphasized that getting overly fired up or angry didn’t help her performance but rather drained her of energy.
“So it’s funny now. I get so many compliments, like oh you’re so calm and I love your presence on the court,” she added. “I’m like, it’s so funny cause I felt like my whole teenage years I was just being told how to act. What to be, what to do. And I had no idea what my personality was. And then I was just like, I don’t care. Getting super fired up or even super mad drains me a lot; I never do well.”
MORE: Jessica Pegula Admits Pressure of Defending Her Charleston Title Despite the ‘Honor’
Pegula kicked off her campaign at the Charleston Open with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Yulia Putintseva after a tough 3-hour, 10-minute battle. The world No. 5, who is aiming to defend her title at the WTA 500 event, will take on Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the third round.
