“I’m obviously seeing the ball and hitting the ball really well,” said the world No.61.
“I’m doing a good job of staying in the point when I have to, not going for too much, but still going aggressive at the right times.”
Pegula, playing her seventh straight grand slam draw and ninth overall, admitted she was once intent on forging her own name in tennis, but she was more willing now to embrace her family’s close links to professional sport.
“I realised as I got older, you know, I should kind of embrace the whole family aspect of it instead. I think I actually shifted my mindset where [previously] it was more like, ‘Okay, I want to differentiate myself, I want to be different, I want to break away,’” she said.
“I think it was almost hurting me in a way because it wasn’t going to go away. I think I learned to embrace that, kind of have fun with it.
“I actually think it’s helped kind of shifting that mindset. But obviously I still do like to keep things separate at times. Tennis is like my thing, it’s my job, it’s my career. My parents don’t really have any say right now in anything I do on the court.”
On Margaret Court Arena on Saturday, Svitolina defeated Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 6-0.
“Was very tough at the beginning. I did few errors that I hoped I would not do,” said the Ukrainian.
“For me, the key was just to try to find my game, try to deal with what she’s giving. I think I dealt with that quite good. I was very happy I could win from 3-4, break down, to I think it’s, what, nine or eight games in a row.”
With a dangerous clash against Pegula looming, Svitolina looked back to their solitary match – at the start of the 2021 season in the UAE.
“I played against Jessica in Abu Dhabi, not that long ago. She’s playing very aggressive. I’m expecting a tough battle against her. She’s a good competitor. It’s going to be a tough one,” she said.
