NEW YORK – By Tuesday, Jessica Pegra and Jack Draper were speaking about four words to each other.
According to Pegula, it could probably be even less.
“Four tops, Max“She insists.
They met each other in tournaments, but neither prefers headphones to small talk, so they didn’t trade more than “hello” on the pass.
That wasn’t personal. They had no reason to know each other, so in Draper’s words, they really don’t like people. “We don’t talk to them,” he said.
However, the two strangers were forced to get to know each other this week at the US Open. Pegra, the fourth largest in the world, was originally paired with Tommy Paul of America, but Draper, the fifth largest in the world, was scheduled to play with Zen Chinwen and Paula Badosa. The tournament was paired together as they still wanted to play.
Neither knew what to expect. Pegra knew that Draper didn’t play much doubles, and Draper didn’t even think that Pegra had a huge success either. He comically didn’t know her seven career doubles titles – or her previous appearances in the French Open Doubles Final and the US Open Mix Doubles Final.
However, they found themselves happy and surprised as they defeated Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz in the first round on Tuesday. Both apparently realized that when they spoke to the media on Tuesday night, they could have found something special.
“Once I went ahead, it seemed like it would be a better partnership than I thought,” Pegra said.
The pair ultimately lost in the semi-finals of Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud on Wednesday night, 3-5, 5-3, 10-8. 2024 champions and true double spare rings, Saraelerani and Andrea Vavassori defended the title late in the evening. However, despite not reaching their goals at all, it was still an event that Pegura and Draper should remember.
So, how was it behind the scenes on Tuesday, as the incredibly successful duo got to know each other on and off the court? ESPN spent the day with 31-year-old Pegula and Draper (23).
10:27am: Draper walks alone to practice Court No. 3 and plays to play with Holger Rune. Holger Rune also plays in mixed doubles draws with Amanda Anishimova. All five practice courts are packed with players and their coaches. The energy is high. Sloan Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion who has been on the sidelines for much of the season, is sitting on the nearby ESPN studio set for the live television hit. Andreva and Medvedev are on the court right next to Draper and Rune, while Daniel Collins and Christian Harrison are on the other side. Despite the star power, it’s Collins’ dog Quincy (an American tournament fixture) and it seems like he really steals the show as he wanders around the court. “Hya, Mr. Q,” says another player’s close aide.
10:59am: Some players are scheduled until 11am and have already packed gear, but all practice appears to be on the halt as 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic leaves to go to head for a very enthusiastic applause from the crowd. He needs to walk by all the other courthouses, he needs to reach him, stopping and greeting some of the other players along the way. He gives Rune a hug and gives him a draper wave from the entire court.
11:25am: Pegra stretches out of the courtroom while she waits for her to join the draper for her first joint practice. A few minutes later, Rune practices with Anishimoba across one court, with Pegura taking his place. Pegula and Draper will chat for a while, as their respective teams and enthusiastic fans watch. Meanwhile, in other nearby courts, Ben Shelton takes on a very active drill with his mixed doubles partner Taylor Townsend and his father Brian, who is also his coach.
11:52 AM: The draper leaves the court, has lunch and hangs out in the locker room. Pegra remains in the court.
12:33pm: Pegra leaves the practice court and heads directly to the massage table under the tent in the player garden. She scrolls on her phone as her trainer helps her stretch. She is mostly silent, but the scenes around her are lively. Every few minutes, players are said to be paged on the same speaker, as if summoned by the principal, and ready to go to each match.
1:50pm: Pegra heads to the gym on the third floor to prepare for the match, while Draper heads to the same massage table area in the Player Garden. He records some fingers in his left ankle and in his left hand. Andreva, who played uno nearby with director Conchita Martinez, quickly joined him at the next table. She’s also recording her left ankle, so they compare notes and joke about their injuries.
2:34pm: Pegula is standing with his team in the player’s lobby ahead of the match. She talks about her strategy temporarily – especially about getting into the net – and Tearfoe tells her that she hopes their match lasts more than 39 minutes, regarding her loss to partner Madison Keys and a loss to Roode. A few feet away, Rune jokingly searches for Anishimoba before the match. When Pegra finally gets the words, it’s almost a coincidence time, she exchanges a head nod with Andrei Rublev. She begins her walk towards the entrance to the courtroom.
2:45pm: Pegra waits alone at the entrance to Arthur Ash Stadium. It seems no one knows where the draper is, and tournament officials are asking for another 2 minutes using his transceiver talkie, as everyone is “waiting for Jack.” On the other side of the hallway, Raducanu and Alcaraz (the enemy) are hilariously joking. Pegra congratulates Alcaraz on winning the title in Cincinnati the night before.
2:51pm: Draper finally appears in the hallway and is ready. The four players walk to the court. Raducanu and Alcaraz were first introduced, followed by top seeds of Pegula and Draper. Soon after that there is a coin toss, with Pegra and Draper winning. They look awkward to each other before they decide to receive it.
2:57pm: The match begins in front of a large, large crowd that mostly appears to be behind Radukanu and Alkaraz. However, Pegula and Draper score their first points and enter the opening game in just three minutes. There is a fist bump and a secret exchange – after every point, whispered behind the protection of the hand and tennis ball. When providing services, the two are special communication, showing strategies on the back with your fingers. Draper supports the “yes, yes” of all Pegra’s hand movements.
3:50pm: In a dominant performance by Pegra and Draper, the duo wins just 50 minutes, 4-2, 4-2, 4-2, with Pegra’s shots of “missiles” towards Alcaraz late in the final match. Later in an interview with Stevens on the court, Pegra thanked the crowd for “this fun atmosphere,” and Draper is forced to share his admiration for Pegra. “I have a pretty good partner,” he says.
4:54pm: With little time to prepare for the next match, Draper arrives at a gym near Ash and begins stretching and warming up. Pegra will arrive in a few minutes. It’s a crowded scene in a relatively small space, with many of the mixing double pairs warming up or cooling, while others dropping the laundry. Djokovic, defeated by his partners Olga Danilovic, Andreva and Medvedev, walks and tries to turn around immediately. “There are too many people,” he says.
5:02pm: Pegra is waiting at the entrance to Ash again, chatting with Medvedev, who has only been removed for a few minutes from his match, preparing to play again. She tells her how impressed he was with the crowd, and jokes that he is most pleased with the abbreviated form. “I’m not too tired,” he says. Andreva walked over and seemed against it. “I thought I had more time,” she says of the quick turnaround before switching to Russian, home country. Everything she says must be funny as Medvedev laughs loudly in response to it.
5:04pm: The two teams will be on the court again. There will be less crowds this time, but enthusiastic and ready. “Now, Jesse!” Someone screams when he is introduced. “I’m going here, Jack,” another fan cried.
5:49pm: In the fastest and most biased match of the day, Pegra and Draper needed just 36 minutes to win a 4-1, 4-1 victory. The pair are relentlessly offensive during the points, and in between they’re cooperative and smiling. The first set lasts just 15 minutes, then jumps out for a 2-0 lead in the second. Both seem excited to advance to Wednesday’s semi-finals. “It feels good,” Pegra told Stevens in court after the match.
6:11pm: After meeting with several friends and showing off details of her Adidas Y-3 dress at Player Garden, Pegra returned to the gym near Ash. Townsend and Shelton, who lost the second round match, approach her and congratulate her immediately. She then stretches after a long day to begin her cooldown period.
6:20pm: Draper is in the gym on the third floor, where he lifts some weights and stretches with a trainer. They joke and pos together for a photo. Alexander Zverev jokingly asks the draper if he needs “a more camera” around him after he notices his ESPN crew is tagging him.
6:40pm: The newly showered and altered Pegra and Draper will meet before the press conference and be asked if they prefer to play in their second match against Swiatek and Ruud in their first or second match on Wednesday night. They go back and forth before they decide they’re better first. As top seeds, they are ultimately given exactly that.
6:45pm: Pegura and Draper ask questions from the media. Neither of them were particularly chatty all day long, but they go back and forth between them. Pegra appears simultaneously disappointed and confused by Draper’s decision to call the mixed doubles event “exhibition.”
With just two matches from the Grand Slam title, it’s clear that doing it with a random partner the week before the slam changed even more was fun.
“It’s always fun to ride on an ash and play in front of a full crowd,” says Pegura. “That’s great. He’s coming back from his injury. It’s really cool to have that in sight and play on a high level. I don’t think you take it for granted. I loved that aspect.
“Whenever you get out there and get extra reps and win a game, that’s why we play.”
6:57pm: Pegra and Draper leave the press conference and return to their respective teams to prepare for another day and the next match.
