Jessica Pegula takes light-hearted dig at Aryna Sabalenka after defeat in Miami final
Aryna Sabalenka secured victories over Jessica Pegula in three consecutive finals, winning her first Miami Open singles title.
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Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/CGTN Sports Scene, The Tennis Letter)
Jessica Pegula declared that she doesn’t like Aryna Sabalenka. The reason is simple. The 31-year-old was playing in front of the home crowd on Saturday (March 29) and Sabalenka, in an hour and 28 minutes, snatched the win against her with a 7-5, 6-2 scoreline to finally lift a singles trophy in a Sunshine Double tournament.
Both Pegula and Sabalenka were aiming to win their second title this season. Pegula was playing her third final of the season following the Adelaide International, ATX Open; while for Sabalenka, it was her fourth final.
Prior to Miami, she was denied her first singles win at Indian Wells by Mirra Andreeva. She won the Brisbane International and was denied a three-peat by Madison Keys in the Australian Open final. Her achievements forced Pegula to take a cheeky dig at the Belarusian for her dominance.
Congrats Aryna to you and your team. Three finals…I really don’t wanna like you right now but you’re the best player in the world for a reason. You keep pushing and challenging everyone to get better. Congrats for an amazing couple of weeks here. Great tournament at Indian Wells too. The last month of tennis you’ve been able to play is amazing.
Jessica Pegula said during the runner-up speech
Pegula has now lost three consecutive finals against the three-time Grand Slam champion. The final was a rematch of last year’s US Open final where Sabalenka secured a straight-set win to emerge triumphant for the first time at Flushing Meadows. Before the US Open, Sabalenka had defeated Pegula again in straight sets in the Cincinnati Open final the same year.
Aryna Sabalenka apologizes to Jessica Pegula after Miami Open win
With the latest win, Aryna Sabalenka has improved her head-to-head against Jessica Pegula to 7-2. The two times Pegula came out on top were in their first meeting in the Cincinnati Open fourth round and in the round-robin stage of the 2023 WTA Finals. Following the win, the first seed praised the fourth seed and expressed her wish to play more matches against her.
First of all Jess, I’m so sorry, for real. If I could share the trophy with someone, trophy, prize money, points, everything…I would definitely share it with you. I’m sorry for that. You’re an incredible player, you always push me so hard to play my best. You’re a great player. Congrats to you and your team on an incredible couple of weeks.
Aryna Sabalenka said after the match
Sabalenka has now won eight WTA 1000 titles so far in her career, equaling Maria Sharapova‘s tally. It was her overall 19th tour-level title.
Sabalenka, who had never progressed to the Miami Open final before this, also improved her record on hard courts. She has now won 17 of her 19 tour-level singles titles on hard courts, including the three singles Grand Slam trophies she won in her career (the 2023 and the 2024 Australian Open and the 2024 US Open).
Aryna Sabalenka will prepare for the clay season next
Sabalenka will now turn her attention to the clay season next. Out of the 19 WTA singles titles she has won, Sabalenka clinched the rest of the two on the clay courts.
She won the Madrid Open in 2021 and 2023 by beating Ash Barty and Iga Swiatek, respectively. The 26-year-old also reached the final last year, but the Pole saved three championship points to get her revenge and win her first title in the tournament.
Sabalenka had also advanced to the Italian Open final last year, but Swiatek once again got the better of her. In the French Open, however, the World No.1 fell to Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.
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