Jessica Pegula speaks on Madrid Open speech controversy: 'These things can't happen again'

Jessica Pegula is not holding anything back when it comes to the 2023 Madrid Mutua Open chaos. The tennis tournament, which ended on Sunday, has been heavily criticized for several decisions regarding equity, especially the no-speech situationafter the women’s doubles final, which she and Coco Gauff lost to Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia.

After the Americans were defeated in the final (6–1, 6–4) on Sunday, the players gathered for the usual post-final ceremony. However, when it was time for the expected speeches, they weren’t afforded the opportunity to speak. It was a weird situation, to say the least, and some of the players reacted to it on social media.

Azarenka addressed the situation writing on Twitter “Hard to explain to Leo that mommy isn’t able to say hello to him at the trophy ceremony,” while Coco Gauff also gave thanks to his team, her rivals and her partner but addressing that she “Wasn’t given the chance to speak after the final today:(“ So, what exactly did happen and what Pegula has to say about it?

Jessica Pegula reveals what happened during the Madrid trophy ceremony

On Tuesday in Rome, Pegula addressed the controversy, explaining how the players found out that they weren’t speaking. “It was kind of awkward. Nobody really knew what to do. We got our trophies. Vika and Bea got theirs. The guy was like, Now you go up on the podium and take one together. Then Vika turned to us and said, ‘There’s no speeches,’” she said.

She continued, “We were like, ‘What?’ She was like, ‘We’re not allowed to talk.’ That’s kind of why we were all on the podium talking. We were all kind of like, ‘What, this is so weird.’ (…) We kind of took a quick picture and stormed off the court, to be honest,” she explained per Tennis.com.

Gauff, who is also in Rome, was also asked for the ceremony. “I think maybe players want to criticize in their speech. I don’t know what was going to be said in the speech. At least in my speech, I wasn’t going to say anything. I don’t think it was a great decision. I expressed that afterwards. They apologized,” she said.

Madrid Mutua Open: The ball girls controversy and the ‘cake-gate’

Pegula also expressed that “There’s been a lot of drama in Madrid, too much tension. Everything got worse as the week progressed and the organization considered deciding that. I wish they had managed it in a more mature and professional way. These things can’t happen again.”

While she didn’t mention the specifics, we can assume that she is referring to the biggest controversies of the week. One was the vastly different birthday cakes world No. 2s Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz received on May 5 (both would go on to win singles titles), and the tweet from tournament director Feliciano Lopez defending the decision.

The other one was the use of female models as ball persons, which is something the tournament has done since 2004 and it has been criticized before (for example by Andre Agassi). However, this year the outfit they were wearing (mini skits and a crop-top) was also a talking point on social media, with many people stating that it was “misogynistic.”