NEW YORK — Before Tuesday, Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper had spoken approximately four words to one another.
Maybe even fewer, according to Pegula.
“Four tops, max,” she insists.
They had seen each other around at tournaments, but because both prefer their headphones to small talk, they hadn’t exchanged more than a “hi” in passing.
It wasn’t personal. They just hadn’t had a reason to get to know each other and well, in Draper’s words, they just don’t really like people. “We don’t talk to them,” he said, only partially joking.
But the two strangers were forced to get to know each other this week at the US Open when they were paired together in the reinvigorated and newly formatted mixed doubles tournament. Pegula, the world No. 4, had originally been paired with fellow American Tommy Paul, and Draper, the world No. 5, had been slated to play with Zheng Qinwen and then Paula Badosa, before both withdrew with injuries. As they both still wanted to play, the tournament paired them together.
Neither knew what to expect. Pegula knew Draper didn’t play much doubles, and Draper didn’t think Pegula had had much doubles success either. He was comically unaware of her seven career doubles titles — or her previous appearances in the French Open doubles final and the US Open mixed doubles final.
But they both found themselves pleasantly surprised on Tuesday as they defeated Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz in the first round, and then Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev shortly after in the second round. Both seemed to realize they had potentially found something special when speaking to the media on Tuesday night.
“I felt like once we got going, it seemed like it was going to be a better partnership than maybe I even thought,” Pegula said.
The pair ultimately lost in the semifinals to Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, 3-5, 5-3, 10-8 on Wednesday night. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the 2024 champions and lone true doubles pairing, successfully defended their title later in the evening. But despite not quite reaching their goal, it was still an event to remember for Pegula and Draper.
So what was it like behind the scenes on Tuesday as the surprising-successful duo got to know each other on and off the court? ESPN spent the day with Pegula, 31, and Draper, 23.
10:27 a.m.: Draper walks out alone to Practice Court No. 3 to play with Holger Rune, who is also playing in the mixed doubles draw, with Amanda Anisimova. The five practice courts are all jam-packed with players and their coaches, and the overlooking bleachers are nearly full. The energy is high. Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion who has been sidelined for most of the season, sits on the ESPN studio set nearby for a live television hit. Andreeva and Medvedev are on the court directly next to Draper and Rune, while Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison are on the other side. Despite the star power, it’s Collins’ dog Quincy — a fixture at American tournaments — that seems to really steal the show as he wanders around the court. “Hiya, Mr. Q,” says a member of another player’s entourage.
10:59 a.m.: While some players are scheduled until 11 a.m. and are already packing up their gear, it appears every practice comes to a halt as Novak Djokovic, the 24-time major champion, walks out to head to Practice Court No. 1 to a very enthusiastic ovation from the crowd. He needs to walk by all of the other courts to make it to his, and he stops and greets several of the other players along the way. He gives Rune a hug and Draper waves at him from across the court.
11:25 a.m.: Pegula stretches outside of the courts as she waits to go join Draper for their first joint practice. A few minutes later, Rune moves over one court to practice with Anisimova and Pegula takes his place. Pegula and Draper chat for a few moments before hitting back and forth as their respective teams — and enthusiastic fans — look on. Meanwhile, on the other neighboring court, Ben Shelton is taking on Taylor Townsend, his mixed doubles partner, and his dad Bryan, who is also his coach, in a very spirited drill.
11:52 a.m.: Draper heads off the court to get some lunch and hang out in the locker room. Pegula remains on the court.
12:33 p.m.: Pegula leaves the practice court and heads directly to the massage table under a tent in the player garden. As her trainer helps her stretch, she scrolls on her phone. While she is mostly silent, the scene around her is lively, as other players warm up and loud music plays over the loudspeaker. Every few minutes or so, players are paged on the same loudspeaker — almost like being summoned by the principal — and told they are ready to go to the respective matches.
1:50 p.m.: Pegula heads to the third-floor gym to prepare for the match, while Draper heads to the same massage table area of the player garden. He gets his left ankle and several fingers on his left hand taped. Andreeva, who had been playing Uno nearby with her coach Conchita Martinez, joins him on the next table soon after. As she is also getting her left ankle taped, they compare notes and joke about their injuries.
2:34 p.m.: Pegula stands with her team in the player lobby ahead of the match. She briefly talks strategy — specifically about coming into the net — and Tiafoe tells her he hopes their match lasts longer than 39 minutes, in reference to his loss to Swiatek and Ruud with partner Madison Keys. A few feet away, Rune is jokingly looking for Anisimova ahead of their match. When Pegula finally gets word it is almost match time, she exchanges a head nod with Andrey Rublev as she begins walking towards the court entrance.
2:45 p.m.: Pegula waits alone by the entrance to Arthur Ashe Stadium. No one seems to know where Draper is, and a tournament official even uses his walkie-talkie to ask for two additional minutes as everyone is “waiting for Jack.” On the other side of the hallway, Raducanu and Alcaraz — their opponents — are jovial and joking around. Pegula then congratulates Alcaraz for winning the title in Cincinnati the night before.
2:51 p.m.: Draper finally appears in the hallway and is ready to go. The four players walk onto the court. Raducanu and Alcaraz are introduced first, followed by Pegula and Draper, the top seed. Soon after, there is a coin toss, which Pegula and Draper win. They look awkwardly at one another before deciding to receive.
2:57 p.m.: The match begins in front of a large and loud crowd that seems mostly behind Raducanu and Alcaraz. But Pegula and Draper win the first point and take the opening game in just three minutes. There are fist bumps and secret exchanges — whispered behind the protection of hands and tennis balls — after every point. When serving, the two are extra communicative, indicating strategy on their backs with their fingers. Draper acknowledges all of Pegula’s hand motions, with a supportive, “Yup, yup.”
3:50 p.m.: In a dominant performance by Pegula and Draper, including a “missile” of a shot by Pegula towards Alcaraz late in the final game (something Draper later called his favorite moment of the day), the duo is victorious in just 50 minutes, 4-2, 4-2. In an interview with Stephens on the court moments later, Pegula thanks the crowd for “such a fun atmosphere” and Draper can’t help but share his admiration for Pegula. “I’ve got a pretty good partner,” he says.
4:54 p.m.: With little time to prepare for their next match, Draper arrives to the gym near Ashe to begin stretching and warming up again. Pegula arrives a few minutes later. It’s a crowded scene, in a relatively small space, with many of the mixed doubles pairs warming up or cooling down and others dropping off their laundry. Djokovic, who lost with his partner Olga Danilovic to Andreeva and Medvedev, attempts to walk in but quickly turns around. “Too many people,” he says.
5:02 p.m.: Pegula is waiting by the entrance at Ashe again and chatting with Medvedev, who is just minutes removed from his match and preparing to go back out to play again. She tells him how impressed she was by the crowd, and he jokes that he was most happy with the shortened format. “It’s not too tiring,” he says. Andreeva walks over and seems to disagree. “I thought there would be more time,” she says about the quick turnaround before switching to her native Russian. Whatever she says must be funny, as Medvedev laughs out loud in reaction to it.
5:04 p.m.: The two teams walk out on the court again. There is a smaller crowd this time around, but it remains enthusiastic and ready for more. “Come on, Jessie!” someone yells as they are introduced. “Here we go, Jack,” yells another fan.
5:49 p.m.: In the fastest and most lopsided match of the day, Pegula and Draper need just 36 minutes for the 4-1, 4-1 win. The pair are relentlessly aggressive during the points, and supportive and smiling in between. The first set lasts just 15 minutes and they jump out to a 2-0 lead in the second. Both seem thrilled to advance to Wednesday’s semifinals. “It feels great,” Pegula tells Stephens on court after the match.
6:11 p.m.: After meeting up with some friends and showing off the details of her Adidas Y-3 dress in the player garden, Pegula is back in the gym near Ashe. Townsend and Shelton, who lost their second-round match, are quick to approach and congratulate her. She then goes to stretch and begin the cool down period after a long day.
6:20 p.m.: Draper is in the third-floor gym, lifting some weights and stretching with his trainer. They joke around and pose for photos together. Doing his own weight training nearby, Alexander Zverev jokingly asks Draper if he “needs any more cameras or flashes” around him after he notices the ESPN crew tagging along.
6:40 p.m.: Freshly showered and changed, Pegula and Draper meet up ahead of their news conference and are asked if they would prefer to play in the first or second match of the night on Wednesday against Swiatek and Ruud. They go back-and-forth before deciding first would be better. As the top seeds, they ultimately are given just that.
6:45 p.m.: Pegula and Draper take questions from the media. While neither has been particularly talkative all day, they banter back and forth with one another. Pegula seems simultaneously dismayed and bemused by Draper’s decision to call the mixed doubles event an “exhibition.”
Now just two matches away from a Grand Slam title, it’s clear what started as a fun thing to do with a random partner the week before a Slam has turned into far more than that.
“It’s always fun just to be on Ashe and playing in front of a full crowd,” Pegula says. “It’s been awesome. He’s coming back from injury. Taking that into perspective, playing at a high level is really cool. I don’t think you can take that for granted. I’ve loved that aspect of it.
“Anytime you can get out there and get extra reps and compete and win matches, I mean, that’s why we play.”
6:57 p.m.: Pegula and Draper leave the news conference and walk back to their respective teams to prepare for another day and their next match.
