Jessica Pegula recounts 'wild' moment when she found woman sleeping in training room
by DZEVAD MESIC
Jessica Pegula is seemingly still stunned by "a wild" scene from 2023 Dubai as the American tennis star was left shocked after finding a woman sleeping in a training room. In late February, world No. 5 Pegula took on Viktoria Tomova in her Dubai opener.
At one point, Pegula asked to leave the court because she needed to get her leg taped in the training room. When Pegula got to the training room, she found a woman sleeping in there. Pegula attempted to wake up the person but she just wouldn't wake up. Since Pegula needed to do the taping and the woman wasn't waking up, she did the entire process while the person was still sleeping.
To make it all funnier, Pegula got a warning for a delay when she returned to the court. When Pegula attempted to explain to the chair umpire that there was "someone in the freaking training room that wouldn't leave," the chair umpire said they would discuss it later and burst into laughter. In the end, it all finished well for Pegula, who went on to complete a 6-2 5-7 6-1 win over Tomova.
On X, someone posted footage of the hilarious scene when Pegula attempted to explain to the chair umpire what she had just witnessed in the training room. Pegula noticed the post and provided a bit more details.
"This was actually wilddd. A worker was sleeping in the training room and wouldn’t wake up. Literally dropped my skirt and did the tape when she was in the room lol."
This was actually wilddd. A worker was sleeping in the training room and wouldn’t wake up. Literally dropped my skirt and did the tape when she was in the room lol https://t.co/YAzmjV4DgH
— Jessie Pegula (@JPegula) December 31, 2023
How Pegula's 2023 Dubai run finished?
In Dubai, Pegula was one of the highest seeds and she had a first-round bye. After not having to play the first round and beating Tomova in her Dubai opener, Pegula also defeated Ana Bogdan 6-4 6-3. In the Dubai quarterfinal, Pegula was scheduled to take on Karolina Muchova but the match didn't happen because the Czech was forced to give a walkover.
After clinching just two wins en route to the Dubai semifinal, Pegula suffered a defeat to Barbora Krejcikova. Krejcikova, the 2021 French Open champion, beat Pegula 6-1 5-7 6-0.
Although Pegula didn't win the Dubai title, it was still her best result at the tournament. Previously, Pegula was a Dubai quarterfinalist in 2021 while she was beaten in the Dubai round-of-16 in 2022. It remains to be seen if Pegula will return to Dubai this season as well.