2024 BJK Cup Qualifier: 'Surprise' from Eubanks, McDonald & Shelton sparks Pegula
LAKE NONA, Fla. - On a windy Friday night at the USTA National Campus that turned downright chilly after sunset, Jessica Pegula just couldn't get going.
The U.S. Billie Jean King Cup team's No. 1 player for this weekend's qualifying round tie against Belgium admitted to feeling "flat" to start of her first singles match against teenager Sofia Costoulas. That, coupled by an inspired effort by the 19-year-old world No. 279, a former junior Grand Slam finalist, added up to an unexpected one-set deficit for the world No. 5.
While Pegula credited first-year U.S. captain, four-time Grand Slam winner Lindsay Davenport, for keeping her "locked in" throughout what was eventually a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory, she also got a spark from a "surprise" fan club seated courtside: the trio of Chris Eubanks, Mackenzie McDonald and Ben Shelton. It was a short commute for them to come and cheer the team on: McDonald, off the tour at the moment recovering from injury, is a Lake Nona resident, while Eubanks and Shelton are in town for a training block on Lake Nona's red-clay courts before heading to Europe ahead of Roland Garros.
"That was a nice surprise," Pegula said afterwards. "I didn't expect to see them. It was great. They were bringing so much energy. ... It was great they came out and supported. I heard they were in town. I saw Chris Eubanks the other day, so I knew they were here training.
"I'm so glad they got to come out. It was a little bit after the rough start. I was like, 'Oh, God, I don't want to lose this match with all of them right here.' But they did a great job of bringing energy and getting me through. The entire team did."
Already on the record this weekend about how much she enjoys playing in a team environment, Pegula told reporters that she should have tapped into that special spirit earlier in the 2-hour and 6-minute match.
"I think that would have helped me," she said. "I was even telling Madi [Madison Keys], 'I didn't even look at you guys.' She was like, 'You should have looked at us, you should have looked at us.'
Photo by Mike Lawrence/USTA.
"It was kind of like I was trying to stay focused, but at the same time I felt like I came out of too flat. If I was able to feed off of that a little bit quicker, I would have reacted a little bit better. You're not used to that when you're playing singles a lot."
But Pegula also candidly credited "the boys on the bench," as one reporter put it, for sparking her too—something she's said she previously experienced first-hand in tennis' mixed-gender team events such as the season-opening United Cup.
"Guys are so much more, I don't know ... they talk so much more crap," she admitted. "They're so much more confident and out front with it. I always feel like I gain a lot of confidence around [them]. ... They'll tell you stuff. You're like, 'You're right. You know what, I am better than this girl.' Your positive inner voice gets a lot more positive and confident.
"I don't think girls are quite as much like that, so it's nice being able to feed off the guys in that sense."
The U.S. ended Friday's action up 2-0 on the team scoreboard, as Emma Navarro came from 6-4, 4-2 down against Belgium's other 19-year-old singles player, Hanne Vandewinkel, in the second singles match.
Pegula will have a chance to clinch the U.S.'s berth in November's Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Saturday's first match against Vandewinkel. A win would give the U.S. an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best-of-five-match tie.
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