FILE PHOTO: Tennis - WTA Finals - King Saud University Indoor Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - November 5, 2024 Jessica Pegula of the U.S. reacts during her women's singles group stage match against Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo
MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Jessica Pegula feels the decision to give herself an extra week to recover from a niggling knee injury has paid off as the American heads into the Australian Open on the back of a run to the final of the tune-up tournament in Adelaide.
Pegula sustained the injury in the WTA's Asian swing of tournaments after her run to the U.S. Open final and had been managing it until being forced to pull out of her final round robin match at the season finale in Saudi Arabia two months ago.
"In Saudi Arabia, I'm not sure if playing on that indoor surface can be tricky sometimes on the body. It really flared up," she told reporters at Melbourne Park on Sunday.
The seventh seed, who begins her Melbourne Park campaign against local teenager Maya Joint on Monday, said the injury had not totally cleared up in the off-season and she decided to skip the Brisbane International.
However, after starting the season a week later than planned Pegula is making up for lost time and showed some of her best form at last week's Adelaide International, where she lost 6-3 4-6 6-1 to compatriot Madison Keys in Saturday's final.
"I would have loved to try and play Brisbane probably, but it just didn't work out just as far as getting enough training in before flying over here. I wanted to make sure physically I felt, like, ready to go," Pegula added.
"I just needed that extra week. But I guess it worked out perfectly in hindsight. Maybe if I had lost early in Adelaide I wouldn't be saying that, but luckily it worked out."
Pegula, whose parents own the NFL's Buffalo Bills, said she may tune into the team's Wild Card game against the Denver Broncos early on Monday morning Australian time.
"It's on, what, like 5 a.m. here? I probably won't be up that early. Maybe catch the second half of it," she said.
"I think they have a great chance to win this game. I don't know, just makes me nervous. It's like a slam. You never really know what's going to happen."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
