Jessica Pegula admits it would be cool if she knew to slide on hard courts as well as Iga Swiatek does. In Cincinnati, world No 3 Pegula was asked if she ever tried to slide on hard courts. Pegula seemingly loved the question as she proceeded to tell a funny story about telling her coach a few years ago that she decided to slide on hard courts.
“I laugh, because a couple of years ago, I was, like, I’m going to slide on hard court. My coach is, like, ‘Oh, my God’ I think we were here. He’s, like, ‘Can you not try and slide in practice before your match?’ I’m, like, I can do it (smiling).
So I do sometimes slide. Am I like Iga? Definitely not. I don’t think I slide as much into my shots, like, I can’t do the running-for-the-dropshot sliding. I wish I could do that. If I do it, I could probably do it on a practice court, but it doesn’t really come, like, instant for me to do it a match, so I just don’t do it.
And obviously, I’m not going to run up to the drop shot and be, like, Oh, I need to slide to look cool or whatever. But, yeah, and it also depends on the shoes, I think, as well. Some seem to be easier than others. Maybe a little more worn down.
Also the court. The court is super gritty for…