Jessica Pegula has criticised the organisers of the Mutua Madrid Open for not allowing the Women’s doubles finalists to speak.
The American has called what happened at the ceremony old-fashioned after the finalists in the Women’s doubles final weren’t allowed to do a speech during the trophy ceremony.
The doubles final was between Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia as they defeated Pegula and Coco Gauff in the final.
There was no problem with the men’s doubles finalists being allowed to talk after their final but the women’s doubles final was a different story.
It was a stunning event that had been building after Victoria Azarenka hinting at sexism on twitter whilst Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka criticised the scheduling of the event after their singles match.
However if tournament director Feliciano Lopez thought that this would minimise the backlash then he was wrong as Jessica Pegula has responded in emphatic fashion during her pre-Rome press conference.
Speaking to the press Pegula described it as a disappointment and behaviour you would expect to find in the past not the present, “Yeah, what happened in Madrid, it was really disappointing,” Pegula said.
“I know a lot of like what happened, detail leading up to the event, just because Vika and I are on players council. I had a feeling something was going to happen.
“Did I think we were not going to be able to speak, no. I’ve never heard of that, like, in my life. Even in a 10K challenger final you would speak. I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision or how they actually had a conversation and decided, like, Wow, this is a great decision we’re going to do and there’s going to be no-backlash against this.
“To be honest, it kind of spoke for itself. We were upset when it happened, especially being told during the trophy ceremony we weren’t going to be allowed to speak. We were kind of like, Well, I guess this just kind of proves a point. We didn’t really do anything, and here we are.
“It kind of speaks for itself. At the same time there was also that aspect where we were kind of like, Well, we don’t have to say anything else. Everyone kind of picked up on it and was very disappointed.”
The American also spoke about how the whole series of events was a build-up of tension throughout the week.
Pegula also spoke about how she is hoping that some positive will come out of it and solutions will be found in the future, “I think it was a build-up. There seemed to be a lot of drama in Madrid this year on a variety of different things,” the world number three said.
“I think, yeah, there was just a buildup of a lot of tension. It just kind of got worse and worse and worse regarding a lot of issues that you guys see online, funny tweets or whatever. I think, yeah, that didn’t help the situation.
“I don’t know if it was, like, the sole reason, but I think there were just a lot of things built up that led to that decision, which is unfortunate. I wish they could have handled it in a more mature, professional way.
“I mean, out of all the drama, I think our end goal is to figure out solutions, for us on our side, to make recommendations of, This is what everyone is telling us, this is what’s happening.
“We did have several meetings with them at the beginning. I think the ATP council, and I was part of WTA council, meeting with tournament directors. There were good conversations. They were fine. I think they’re aware. Hopefully next year we can kind of prepare in advance.
“I think sometimes we get there and there’s problems. Sometimes it’s too late to really fix things when everything is already up and running. But I know as players council, yeah, we do a lot with the tournaments and stuff like that, making recommendations for the next years, what things should change. We’ll definitely have that conversation with them.”
Currently there has been no statement from organisers in Madrid about the reasons for the incident and any future changes as the backlash continues to heat up.
As for Pegula, she will begin her campaign in Italy on Friday against Taylor Townsend with the American looking to reach the semi-finals in Rome for the first time next week.
