Cheers! Jessica Pegula eyes Napa vacation after breakout season

WATCH: Tennis Channel Live discusses Pegula's unforgettable 2022 season.

FORT WORTH, Texas—The off-season can’t come soon enough for Jessica Pegula after a whirlwind two weeks have taken her from the highs of her first WTA 1000 title in Guadalajara to the lows of going winless at the WTA Finals.

After competing at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Pegula plans a road trip to California’s Napa Valley—a more low-key destination compared to the more lavish beach vacations other players have already booked.

“I've always wanted to go,” she said after a round-robin defeat to Aryna Sabalenka. “I've never been. I'm not like a huge wine person but I would love to learn more. Some of our friends wanted to go, as well. It was in the States, so it's not too far away. I didn't want to go anywhere out of the country. That's always kind of a bummer. I feel like if I'm looking at trips or you know, trying to go somewhere I don't really want to fly anywhere far.

“And hopefully I have at least, like, a few weeks to kind of wind down and be home,” she added, planning to spend Thanksgiving with family. “I haven't been home, you know, that much this year. And this last stretch has been long, so it'll definitely be nice to be home.”

The break will undoubtedly give Pegula time to process the year she’s had, one that saw her reach three Grand Slam quarterfinals, reach a career-high ranking of No. 3, and qualify for the WTA Finals in both singles and doubles.

Though she won’t leave Fort Worth as queen of the tennis rodeo, the grounded 28-year-old is well aware of the importance of compartmentalizing disappointment and celebrating success.

“I'm not one to really, like, celebrate myself too much or like the attention on me,” she mused. “But I think all your friends are kind of like your hype people, so they’re definitely like, 'No, we're gonna celebrate and drink tons of wine and Napa and like it's going to be a total celebration of your awesome year!'

“I think it's one of those things where tennis, it's rough: you have one good week, one bad week and people forget really easily and or don't remember you winning and they just see your loss next week. I think as tennis players we do need to celebrate, because the journey is now. I feel like every, usually athlete or top athlete always says, ‘the dream is the journey, not like the end result.’ It's hard to maintain that mindset all the time, but I think as long as you kind of come back to that and try to celebrate the small goals as much as you can, I think that keeps it healthy. Sometimes we forget, so I have friends and family for that.”

WTA Finalist, soon-to-be-sommelier, Jessica Pegula is expanding her resume at an exponential rate, with plenty of room to grow in 2023.