Jessica Pegula makes honest retirement admission after vowing to not copy Williams sisters
World No 4 Jessica Pegula believes that she only has two or three years left playing professional tennis and has her eyes set on participating in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
The American, currently aged 31, would be 34 at the time of the world-renowned event, which will be held from July 19 – 28 2028.
In recent years, many of the tennis elite have sought to prolong their career.
Roger Federer retired at the age of 41 at the Laver Cup in 2022, whilst his great rival, Rafael Nadal, hung up his racket at 38.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams continued to play until the 2022 US Open, at the age of 40. Her sister, Venus, is continuing to play – and win – professional singles matches at 45.
“I don’t [have plans to follow the Williams sisters’ example], I would definitely not be playing at 35, definitely not,” Pegula admitted to Carolina Garcia on the Tennis Insider Club.
“I think that’s where I for sure have to stop. I think at 31?
“Yeah, I think it would be cool maybe like to try and make the Olympics, because it’s in LA in a couple years.
“Three years, that’s a long time, though. I’m counting technically like two years, because then you qualify, so I’ll probably have an idea by then if I’m in or not.
“So we’ll make it sound like two, it’s three.”
The US Open finalist has had a relatively disappointing 2025 season, having lost in the third round at the Australian Open, the fourth round of the French Open, and most recently, the first round of Wimbledon.
Pegula fell in both of her third-round matches at the Canadian Open (to Anastasija Sevastova) and Cincinnati Open (to Magda Linette).
Earlier in her conversation with Garcia, the world No 4 also admitted to having ‘never been obsessed with winning’ and revealed what is ‘so hard’ about tennis.
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“I don’t know if I have ever been obsessed with winning, it all kind of feels the same,” added Pegula.
“I feel like at the end of the day, I made the finals of the US Open, great.
“And then I was back in Asia, and you are out there battling, and it all feels the same at the end of the day.
“I am sitting there getting annoyed and frustrated at losing, and everyone is like you just made finals of the US Open but I’m saying I am p—— I just lost in Beijing. You go back to the same thing a couple of weeks later.
“It’s what is so hard about tennis. You have this amazing achievement, and then you are right back.
“I was just right back in Asia, ready to lose my mind, not playing well and frustrated, and everyone was like ‘you just made the final’ and I was like I don’t care, I want to win now.
“You move on to the next week, and that is what I think is so hard about tennis. You don’t really get time to appreciate what you have done.
“It’s not intentionally, and it’s not that I’m saying I don’t care that I made the US Open final, but it’s just that happened, and now I’m in a different situation and a different week, and I’m being told to perform now, and I’m thinking about now.
“When I am thinking about now, the US Open final doesn’t matter at this moment. I am trying to win this match, and we have moved on.
“The world kind of just keeps moving on, and tennis moves on at a very fast pace.”
She will next participate in the US Open, taking place from August 24 – September 7, with 1300 ranking points to defend from last year’s final appearance.
