While practicing at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, Jessica Pegula was caught making some pointed remarks about Mirra Andreeva, telling her coach that the young Russian player “needs to be humbled.” The comments, which were clearly not intended for public consumption, were picked up by microphones as the WTA livestreamed practice-court conversations. The incident prompted an apology from the tour, which accepted full responsibility and admitted it had failed to inform players and their teams that the microphones were active.
“She’s always been very nice to me, but I’ve lost a little bit of respect for her because I’m just like, this girl—I mean, she’s a nice girl, but she’s a diva,” Pegula said.
In a statement to Front Office Sports, the WTA acknowledged its mistake, saying: “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 apologize for failing to meet our responsibility to ensure players and coaches were properly informed.”
A source within the tour told FOS that the microphones were intended to capture ambient sounds during practice rather than private conversations between players and coaches. Following the incident, the WTA confirmed that practice sessions would continue to be livestreamed without audio.
The hot microphones captured several other critical remarks from Pegula, who appeared particularly frustrated with Andreeva’s on-court behavior.
“If I was a coach and my girl, you just played four great games, and you’re up four-zero, and you’re mad at me, hitting balls at me, I would be like, first of all, [that’s] disrespectful to the other person,” Pegula said. “You’re up four-zero, shut the fuck up. But she just can’t.”
Pegula also brought up fellow American Coco Gauff, suggesting that Andreeva could reach an even higher level if she adopted Gauff’s mindset. “If she had Coco’s mentality, she’d be better than Coco,” Pegula said.
Pegula and Andreeva have never faced each other in a singles match, but that could change at the 2026 WTA Finals. Although the two players have been drawn into separate groups, they could meet in the semifinals or final if both advance from the round-robin stage. (source: Yahoo)
