Andy Roddick recently criticized the WTA Tour over the hot mic controversy at the WTA Finals involving Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva.
During a practice session at Indian Wells, Pegula’s conversation with her coach, Mark Knowles, was broadcast without either of them knowing. The 2024 US Open finalist was heard making statements about Andreeva and her coach, Conchita Martínez. The American tennis player called Andreeva a “diva” who “needs to be humbled” and said she had lost respect for her coach for not handling the French Open champion properly.
The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) livestreamed the session without informing people that the audio recording equipment was active. On his Served podcast, Roddick slammed the WTA for recording players without informing them.
“Putting mics on people and not telling them is ridiculous. Like imagine you go into a board meeting for the WTA, and you put mics in there and stream it and don’t tell anyone. Also, when you’re in this thing, and you’re going, ‘Trust us, trust us, trust us, trust us.’ Especially when you’re throwing that person under the bus who is literally spending hours and hours and hours of her life at the negotiating tables and trying to do it, and you hot-mic her and let me just say this, because everyone’s going to be like, ‘Well, she said it. It shouldn’t matter.'”
He further highlighted that players often make comments during intense practice sessions which they don’t necessarily mean.
“There’s 100% chance that I’ve been practicing with people that I love. Like, there’s a 100% chance that if I was practicing with Mardy (Mardy Fish) and things are going the wrong way. There’s no doubt. You say stuff on the court like when you think you’re there and you don’t mean it. Welcome to like every other day on tour. Like, of course, it’s intense. You’re supposed to disagree.”
Roddick added:
“It’s a bad look. Terrible look. Like if I’m Jessica Pegula and that happens to me, furious. I’m flipping chairs somewhere.”
Mirra Andreeva reacted to the incident, saying she appreciated Jessica Pegula approaching her a few hours later to apologize.
Jessica Pegula opens up on her defeat against Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals
Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff made their fifth consecutive appearance at the WTA Finals. Pegula opened her run at the season-ending tournament in a clash against her compatriot Gauff, who won 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in two hours and 39 minutes. Gauff won the first set after saving three break points at 4-4.
Pegula took control with a 5-1 lead in the second set. However, Gauff battled to clinch five consecutive games and earned a match point at 6-5, but Pegula sent the match into a decider. Winning the second set exhausted Pegula, and Gauff took an early 3-0 lead in the third set before sealing the win.
“To get me to work to win that set 7-6 instead of 6-1 or 6-2 or 6-3 even definitely didn’t bode well for me going to the third,” Pegula said via Tennis World USA. “Because I just used a massive amount of energy. It took like another hour for me to win the second set when it could’ve been done in one game. That’s what she does. That’s what she’s the best in the world at, I think. She makes you compete and win no matter what, and I thought she reset well going back into the third knowing she had chances. I think I saved one match point. It didn’t do well for me having to tough out that second set as hard as I did.”
Jessica Pegula saw off Marta Kostyuk in the second match. She is still in contention for a semifinal spot and will face Linda Noskova next.
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Esta notícia foi originalmente publicada em: Fonte original