Billionaire tennis heiress Jessica Pegula has been caught red-handed gossiping about her 19-year-old rival Mirra Andreeva.
The American star, 32, was caught calling Andreeva a ‘diva’ who ‘needs to be humbled’ by a microphone that she was unaware of during training.
She also said she had ‘lost respect’ for legendary Spanish player Conchita Martínez, who now coaches Andreeva, this year’s French Open champion.
Andreeva has gained a reputation for her fiery temperament – at Wimbledon this year she smashed her rackets, snapped at the umpire and her team, said ‘I quit,’ and left the court in tears after losing to Barbora Krejcikova in the second round.
Pegula, daughter of £8.9billion oil and gas tycoon Terry Pegula, was recorded by a hot mic while training for WTA Finals in Indian Wells.
‘Conchita has always been very nice to me, but I’ve lost a little bit of respect for her,’ she began.
Jessica Pegula (left) was caught on a hot mic saying Mirra Andreeva is a ‘diva’ who ‘needs to be humbled’
Andreeva, 19, is known for her explosive outbursts on court, including smashing her rackets
Pegula is the heiress in a billionaire family but has worked hard to reach her position (Instagram: @jpegula)
‘I think she’s a nice girl, she’s just a diva. She needs to be humbled. You have to put her in her place.
‘Do it, stand up to her. If I was a coach, and my girl just played four great games, and you’re up 4-0, and you’re mad at me throwing balls at me, first of all, that’s so disrespectful. You’re up 4-0, like shut the f*** up.
‘But she can’t. Conchita pokes her and eggs on her behaviour. She has a perfect serve, she’s smart, she anticipates well.
‘If she had Coco’s mentality, she’s better, serve, everything, all around. Mentally she’s just…’
Pegula also swirled her finger close to her temple, appearing to indicate that she thought Andreeva was crazy.
The pair are yet to face each other in competitive action, but they could in this tournament. While Andreeva won the French Open this year, Pegula is still waiting to win a Grand Slam – she reached the final of the US Open in 2024.
Pegula has come under fire for her ‘diva’ comments, particularly because of her high-ranking background.
Her father grew rich through oil and gas – he founded East Resources to explore those markets in 1983 with a loan of $7,500 (£5,565) before selling most of its assets in 2010 for nearly $5billion (£3.710billion).
Pegula, left, with her family after her parents Terry and Kim bought the Buffalo Bills in 2014
Andreeva regularly lets the umpire, her team, and the crowd know about her frustrations
Together with his wife, Kim, Pegula now invests in sports teams. They own the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres and in 2014 they beat groups spearheaded by Donald Trump and Bon Jovi to buy the NFL’s Buffalo Bills for $1.4bn (£1.038bn).
But Pegula told Daily Mail Sport a couple of summers ago: ‘It’s funny when people assume that I fly private everywhere, or that I have had a chauffeur driving me around since I was five… I grew up pretty normal, and a lot of that [her family’s wealth] didn’t happen to me until I was already older and playing.
‘My goal since I was six or seven was to be No 1 in the world… I was just a normal kid growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, taking lessons after school.’
That hasn’t shielded Pegula, 32, from allegations that, to win a Grand Slam, she ‘needs [a] dynamic that family billions can’t buy’.
It is fair for her to indicate that Andreeva has an explosive character on court. The Wimbledon incident was far from the first.
At the French Open last year, she imploded on her way to defeat against world No361 Lois Boisson and hit a ball into the crowd, which brought on boos and a warning.
At Indian Wells in March this year, she threw and smashed her racket after losing against Katerina Siniakova, before exchanging heated words with members of the crowd.
‘I feel like it’s not the best way to handle yourself, but once in a while it really helps to get mad at yourself and get it done,’ she has said.
She also says she should try and learn from Serena Williams: ‘I think the one person that was handling losses very well was Serena Williams, like I’ve never heard or seen her upset.
‘Even I remember, she was losing finals on the Slams, and she would always smile and be happy for her opponent that she won the match and she got the trophy. So maybe it’s something that I can also try to learn, and we’ll see how that’s gonna go. Yeah, we’ll see.’
