Jessica Pegula opens up on turbulent year in personal essay
WTA
Jessica Pegula has bravely written about her mother's health issues and how that has impacted her for nearly a year.
2022 was the best season of Pegula's career. She and world No. 1 Iga Swiatek were the only WTA players to reach three Grand Slam quarterfinals during the year, although the American lost all three of them.
The most memorable of those defeats was at the US Open against Swiatek. Pegula hilariously drank a can of Heineken beer at the press conference afterward, explaining that she was trying to pee for doping but also wanted to soothe the pain of losing.
Although those Grand Slam quarterfinal losses were undoubtedly tough, Pegula won her first WTA 1000 title in 2022 by defeating Maria Sakkari in the final and qualified for the season-ending WTA Finals.
Those achievements led to Pegula being nominated for the WTA Player of the Year, but her results are even more impressive after she revealed the details of how her mom almost passed away.
Pegula wrote in The Players' Tribune that her mother suffered a cardiac arrest in June 2022 and was saved by her sister performing CPR. Eight months later, the 28-year-old decided to open up about the situation in a personal essay.
"I texted my husband, Taylor, that the situation with my mom was weighing on me. When can we start talking about it? When can I tell her story, my story, my family’s story? Everyone just keeps asking me. I really need to get it off my chest."
"Going into the 2023 Australian Open, I decided to wear the number 3 patch to honor Damar Hamlin. Ironically, yes, I was ranked No. 3 in the world. However, it didn’t feel like it was just for him, it felt like it was for my mom as well."
