Jessica Pegula aims to expand “Player’s Box podcast,” talks Aryna Sabalenka rivalry at AO

MELBOURNE, Australia—Talk to any group of friends and they’ll tell you they’ve considered launching a podcast, but Jessica Pegula’s group kept that promise, celebrating their first full season of “The Player’s Box” after a successful 2025 US Open debut.

“Yeah, it has been really fun to grow in that space,” the No. 6 seed told me during her Australian Open Media Day press conference. “I think we're excited to kind of start a full year around the slams and big tournaments because we really only launched during the US Open and then there's really not that much going on in the tennis world after that.

“So, I mean, we're trying to grow it this year, have more gas, kind of base it around depending on where we are, events in the world, things going on. So, I think that will be really exciting. We're excited.”

Pegula partnered with fellow Americans and longtime friends Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady, and Desirae Krawczyk to form the WTA’s answer to “Nothing Major,” another tennis foursome led by former ATP players Sam Querrey, John Isner, Jack Sock, and Steve Johnson.

“We saw the guys start Nothing Major and we were kind of like, ‘Man, if they can do it, we can figure this out. Like, come on. Seriously,’” she said last summer.

“I think being friends also has really helped us, especially with all the traveling and, you know, just living this lifestyle that we live. So, it's actually been really fun, kind of therapeutic for us, and I guess we're just kind of sharing that with the rest of the world.”

The players have posted a steady stream of episodes since late August, celebrating their 20th episode with Coco Gauff serving as their first-ever guest.

“That was really fun,” said Pegula, who will play her first round against Anastasia Zakharova.

“We filmed a lot. We filmed a lot,” she added with a laugh. “We are going to record again tomorrow. So we'll have some content from actually being here in Melbourne, which I think is cool.

“I don't know, it's exciting. I don't think any players have really done that before. So hopefully we can give some decent insight to kind of what's going on and how we're feeling…As long as we can get our schedules on the same track I would say is the hardest part. But we'll see how it goes this year. But we're excited to have a full year of basing it around a lot of different tournaments.”

Pegula plans a full schedule on the court after a strong finish to the 2025 season, reaching the US Open semifinals and the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open final to qualify for the WTA Finals—where she played one of the best matches of the season against Aryna Sabalenka en route to the semifinals. The pair practiced together on Friday.

“Obviously, she has beaten me more times,” said Pegula, who lost three of four meetings to the world No. 1 last season, “but I think we tend to bring out some really good tennis in each other. You know, matchups like that just happen. It happens to be for me and Sabalenka, we tend to have some pretty crazy matches. Really high level I have always thought.

“It is fun. She challenges me. You know, pushes me to figure out how to become better. I think at the end of the day that's kind of what I try to take away from some of the tough matches. Even though I feel like I've had some chances to win them, and beating her on a bigger stage would be something that I am trying to strive for, especially at big tournaments.

“You know, I keep running into her, but I think it is also a little bit of a good problem to have. It means I am putting myself in good positions against the best player in the world.”

While a win over Sabalenka in Melbourne would provide plenty of podcast fodder, Pegula will have to wait until at least the final to have a chance against the two-time Australian Open champion, drawing instead defending champion and co-host Madison Keys in the fourth round.