Tennis’ richest participant Jessica Pegula admitted that she got here near smashing all of her rackets in her victory over Irina Begu on the Charleston Open. The American had gained the opening set and regarded sure to assert the second, however for a surprising turnaround by Begu – a lot to Pegula’s frustration.
After Pegula had defeated the Romanian 6-4, she cruised into an early 4-0 lead within the second set because the consequence seemed to be a foregone conclusion. Nevertheless, Begu got here again and gained six consecutive units to win 6-4 – a lot to the shock of supporters and her opponent.
Pegula was visibly pissed off that she allowed her opponent to mount a fightback, although then rallied by successful six video games in a row herself on her method to victory. She struggled to clarify the run that Begu went on, however admitted that the frustration almost led to her smashing all of her rackets.
“I do not know [what happened], actually,” Pegula stated after the match. “I don’t know at one level I used to be about to smash all my rackets and the subsequent factor you recognize I’m right here in order that sentence although it’s by no means over till it’s over.
“I imply, I simply tried to get one sport as a result of there’s a variety of video games that I misplaced in a row. So I attempted to get one sport, then I attempted to lastly maintain one sport after which I simply saved it rolling. So I’m simply glad I used to be capable of get there.
“I’m simply robust. I’m going to robust it out and I’m not going to offer it to you and regardless that I had a swing there, you recognize, I type of went off and he or she began enjoying some nice tennis. I’m simply robust.”
Pegula did advance to the quarter-finals, nonetheless, the place she defeated Spaniard Paula Badosa in straight units to achieve the ultimate 4. She is going to tackle Belinda Bencic, hopefully with all of her rackets intact by the top of the match. Although if she was to smash them as she got here near already this event, the 29-year-old would have little hassle changing them resulting from her household’s big fortune.
Pegula’s billionaire father Terry Pegula owns NFL franchise Buffalo Payments and has a internet value of £5.4bn. He additionally owns NHL workforce Buffalo Sabres, although his daughter has been praised for specializing in her tennis profession versus following in her dad’s footsteps with the household enterprise.
Charleston is her seventh singles event of the 12 months already, because the world No 3 proved her dedication to her craft by travelling eight hours within the automotive along with her husband and three canines to compete in South Carolina after successful the doubles competitors on the Miami Open.