Pegula-Andreeva ‘diva-gate’ was avoidable – and exposed an alarming truth

It’s been a tricky few months for the WTA Finals, with the tournament abruptly ending its sojourn in Saudi Arabia and scrambling to find a new home before settling on a temporary stay in Indian Wells, California. But after years of ping-ponging around the world and struggling to build a real identity the tournament now has what it truly craved: internet clout.

Many people may not have even known the tournament was taking place this and next week, were it not for a bizarre viral moment in which world No 5 Jessica Pegula was caught on a hot mic calling French Open champion Mirra Andreeva a “diva”. So, some exposure for the WTA, although not in the way they wanted; less good news for the players, who may be reaching breaking point with their privacy and peace of mind constantly being sacrificed to the remorseless need for more clicks and clips.

To recap: the WTA placed microphones at the back of courts to pick up the ambient sounds of practice sessions, which were then live-streamed on the Tour’s YouTube channel. But the mics also picked up a private conversation between Pegula and her coach Mark Knowles after a practice with Andreeva. The American objected to Andreeva becoming frustrated during the session despite winning four straight games and aiming balls at her coach, Conchita Martinez; Pegula said that she had “lost a little respect” for the latter because she “pokes [Andreeva] and eggs on her behaviour.” “She needs to be humbled,” Pegula suggested of Andreeva.

The conversation was hardly earth-shatteringly offensive; Pegula stressed the Russian was a “nice girl” and added that if she had Coco Gauff’s mentality, she would be a better player than her fellow American – perhaps not something Gauff would have liked to hear, but a fairly measured appraisal of both players’ abilities. Pegula is a level-headed and articulate presence on the Tour who is not known for ruffling feathers, or seeking out drama and attention.

But none of that matters, because an innocuous private conversation has now been taken out of context and amplified tenfold. The Athletic reported that Pegula – who obviously had no idea that she had been caught on tape – had contacted Andreeva’s camp to apologise.

The WTA issued an apology too: “The WTA takes full responsibility for failing to inform our players and their teams that microphones, in place to give fans a livestream of the players’ practice, were active on the courts at the WTA Finals. We sincerely apologise for failing to meet our responsibility to ensure players and coaches were properly informed.”

All the live-streams of practice sessions were taken down. But the moment had happened, been spotted, and took on a life of its own. All press may be good press for the WTA and its flagship event; more people may now tune in to see how this ‘beef’ between the players develops, or see whether Andreeva ‘claps back’ in her media interviews on Friday.

The whole incident, a bit of mild sniping at a colleague, hardly warrants the amount of attention it has received. But it is symptomatic of what it’s like being a tennis player in the modern era.

Fundamentally players are sportspeople and not entertainers. While many of them have wholeheartedly embraced promoting themselves on social media, that doesn’t supersede the primacy of tennis itself in their lives. Pegula did not criticise Andreeva’s behaviour to Knowles in a bid for attention; she was just doing her job, practicing for a major tournament, and speaking to him under the entirely understandable illusion that that wouldn’t be broadcast for all the world to see, hear and dissect ad nauseum.

The incident recalls Gauff smashing a racquet in an area of the Australian Open complex that she believed to be private, after she lost in the quarter-finals. “I feel like certain moments don’t need to be broadcast,” she said at the time. Fellow player Iga Swiatek went a step further in sticking up for the American: “The question is, are we tennis players, or are we animals in the zoo? It would be nice to have some privacy. It would be nice also to, I don’t know, have your own process and not always be observed.”

The incident led to the other three grand slams saying they would consult players over which areas would have camera feeds and which would be purely private. But this latest drama, or non-event, with Pegula must add to the frustration players feel over the increasing commoditisation of their lives.

The Tours, grand slams and tournaments all benefit from filming and posting behind-the-scenes clips and putting players front and centre in short-form interviews as they chase that great arbiter of success, ‘engagement’. In short, it’s in their interests to eke as much content out of them as possible. But what value, monetary or otherwise, do the players get from it themselves?

There is enough scrutiny on athletes as it is without further intrusions into their privacy. At some point there has to be an acceptance that they are not a walking, talking, content-producing machine. The WTA has apologised for this latest gaffe – but it would be worth the whole debacle prompting a genuine rethink over players being treated as products rather than as people.