'I'll definitely not be playing at 35': Pegula shares future plans

On the Tennis Insider Club podcast, World No. 4 Jessica Pegula told Caroline Garcia that she will not be playing tennis when she's 35, and is targeting the 2028 Summer Olympics as perhaps her final tournament.

Say it ain't so, Jess.

Jessica Pegula, one of the most consistent and reliable players on the Hologic WTA Tour over the past few years, seems to have a firm idea of when she'll put the racquet down and start the next chapter of her life.

On the Tennis Insider Club podcast hosted by former World No. 4 Caroline Garcia, the 31-year-old said she has no intention of playing tennis when she's 35 years old, and earmarked the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as her potential swan song.

"I'll definitely not be playing at 35," said the World No. 4, who turned pro way back in 2009. "Definitely not. I think that's where I for sure have to stop. I think it would be cool to try and make the Olympics cause it's in LA in a couple years. ... I'm counting it, technically, like two years because then you qualify, so I'll probably have an idea by then if I'm in or not."

Pegula represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (played in 2001, because of COVID) and the 2024 Games at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris. She lost to eventual gold medalist Belinda Bencic in the first round in 2021, and three years later defeated Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic in the first round before falling to Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.

The Buffalo native has won nine titles in her career -- including three WTA 1000 trophies, in Guadalajara, Montreal and Toronto -- but has yet to break through at a Grand Slam. She came closest at last year's US Open, losing in the final to Aryna Sabalenka. She'll have another terrific opportunity (perhaps her best) to win her first Slam next month at Flushing Meadows.

Pegula has won three titles in 2025 -- Austin, Charleston and Bad Homburg -- and boasts an impressive 37-16 record, though she was upset in the third round of the Cincinnati Open by Magda Linette on Wednesday.

We're holding out hope that Pegula has more than three years left in the tank -- she wouldn't be the first player to retract a retirement declaration -- but whenever she retires, be it tomorrow or years from now, she'll have a tremendously successful and fruitful career to look back on.

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