That’s a pattern of play. A ball arrives badly, and you send it back with spin.
The background: a private conversation between Jessica Pegula and her coach Mark Knowles, in which she criticised Mirra Andreeva, was broadcast after a WTA Finals practice session in Indian Wells. Pegula told ESPN she did not know she was being recorded. She sorted it out “in private”. The WTA apologised and switched off the audio on the practice courts.
On Saturday, Andreeva posts photos from the tournament, one with Pegula, and a single word: “Divas”. The word from the conversation. Pegula replies in a comment: “Divas in Chanel”, for the outfits from the official photo shoot. Two shots. Not one too many.
I watched it on Sunday at the clubhouse bar, a cone of chips on my stats folder. And I thought about our team photo from club league (interclubs, Belgium’s weekend team league). We wear the sponsor’s polos, a chip shop in Wavre. Nobody has ever written “Divas in Chanel” underneath. My doubles partner put “we believe” and a chip. The level in club league has gone way up, people don’t realise, but the caption hasn’t kept up.
That reply in the comments, technically, I could do it. With less speed. And as a private message, on the club group chat, three days later. But I do it.
In Couvin, we made up over a tart. They got Chanel outfits. It’s a different setup.
Pegula, who sits on the players’ council, wants the incident to reopen the debate on privacy: they have been fighting for it for two years. Valerie Camillo, the WTA president, apologised personally to her and to her coach, and admitted a lack of signage. At court 4, we have no microphone. We have a strip light. It hears everything too, but it repeats nothing.
The tournament starts on 8 November. The two divas play, and I go back to Tuesday evenings.
It’s true, we checked: Tennis Actu.
