Jessica Pegula, along with fellow American tennis stars Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady, and Desirae Krawczyk, hosts a podcast called “Player’s Box.” Recently, the former World No. 3 revealed how Yulia Putintseva approached her, asking for help in finding a boyfriend through the podcast.
Putintseva recently competed at the 2026 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, where she defeated Paula Badosa (6-4, 6-2) in the first round before falling to 17th seed Clara Tauson (6-7(9), 2-6) in the second round.
Jessica Pegula Reveals Yulia Putintseva Asking for Their Podcast’s Help in Finding a Boyfriend
Pegula is also competing at Indian Wells and is seeded fifth. She began her campaign in the second round after receiving a bye in the first round. In her opening match, she defeated wildcard Donna Vekić 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, and then advanced to the fourth round by beating 26th seed Jeļena Ostapenko 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the third round.
Following her victory over Ostapenko, while speaking with Tennis Channel’s Steve Weissman, Pegula discussed her “Players Box” podcast. She mentioned that during a practice session at Indian Wells, Putintseva had asked her for a “matchmaking service,” seeking help finding a boyfriend.
“Yulia [Putintseva], she’s asked to help her find a boyfriend. So she wants a matchmaking service. We’ll take her up on it. We thought about it for sure. That’s what she told me here when I was practicing with her. So, we’ll see if that ever evolves into something. I think it’s fun to show a different side, and I think all the girls have actually really liked it,” Pegula said.
The former World No. 3 said the podcast serves as a “fun” way to showcase a different, more relatable side of tennis players.
“Showing a little bit of a different side to players, and I think more down-to-earth, humanizes us a little bit more. We’re still girls eating snacks, like not much changes. We’ll see how it goes with Yulia. I don’t know. We are also going to be taking responsibility if it doesn’t go as well,” she added.
Pegula also said that she and her podcast co-hosts — Keys, Brady, and Krawczyk — would take “responsibility” if their attempt to help Putintseva find a boyfriend doesn’t go well.
Looking ahead, Pegula is set to face Belinda Bencic in the fourth round of the 2026 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Bencic, seeded 12th, began her campaign in the second round following a bye. She defeated qualifier Storm Hunter 6-3, 6-2 in the second round, and then beat the 22nd seed Elise Mertens in the third.
Pegula and Bencic have met four times on the WTA Tour, with the Swiss winning all four encounters.
The winner of the fourth round match between Pegula and Bencic at the WTA 1000 hard court tournament in California will advance to face either third seed Elena Rybakina, 28th seed Marta Kostyuk, or Sonay Kartal in the quarterfinals.
