Jessica Pegula was captured on a hot mic calling Mirra Andreeva a “diva” during a livestream of her practice session, forcing the WTA to issue an apology for the sound played before the finals at Indian Wells.
Pegula, ranked No. 5 in the world, was overheard Wednesday telling her coach, Mark Knowles, that the third-ranked Andreeva “needs to be humbled.”
“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,” the 32-year-old American said of the 19-year-old Russian.
The tour issued a statement to Front Office Sports in response to the controversy.
“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,” the tour said. “We sincerely apologize for failing to meet our responsibility to ensure players and coaches were properly informed.”
A tour source told Front Office Sports that the microphones are intended to capture ambient noise during practice, not private conversations between players and coaches.
The livestreams reportedly will continue without audio during practices for the WTA Finals, the season-ending event that begins on Sunday and features the tour’s top eight players.
Representatives for Pegula and Andreeva did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Front Office Sports.
–Field Level Media
