"Aryna Sabalenka likes to show her emotions, Iga Swiatek cries after she loses": Jessica Pegula shuts down Belarusian's critics after Coco Gauff drama

Jessica Pegula recently weighed in on Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff's post-French Open controversy. According to Pegula, people who criticized Sabalenka over her comments about Gauff have never found themselves in situations that can trigger negative emotions.

The controversy stemmed from Sabalenka suggesting that her heartbreaking loss to Gauff in the final at Roland Garros had more to do with her own errors than the American's performance. The Belarusian also claimed that Iga Swiatek would have defeated the American had the Pole reached the final instead of her. This sparked fierce backlash, as critics accused the WTA No. 1 of being disrespectful towards Gauff.

Aryna Sabalenka though, later apologized to Coco Gauff, and the pair confirmed they'd moved on from the drama by dancing and filming TikToks together during Wimbledon practice. Speaking at a pre-tournament press conference ahead of her own campaign at SW19, World No. 3 Jessica Pegula said:

"It's just normal for emotions to kind of overcome you and sometimes you don't really know why, but I think a lot of those comments just come from people who have never played at a high level, have never really competed, and never trained and worked at something for so many years and be told, 'Go out there and win', and knowing one person comes out as a winner and one comes as a loser."

The 31-year-old went on talk about how her rivals Sabalenka and Swiatek both let out their emotions following disappointing losses. Pegula also cited her own example, claiming that she'd broken her water bottle after being eliminated in the fourth round at this year's French Open.

"Aryna, we've always known she likes to show her emotions. Iga, the same, sometimes she cries after she loses. There are plenty of girls who cry after they lose. I think I broke my water bottle at the French in the hallway. Maybe nobody saw it, but things happen. I think it's just human nature. People online just like to make their assumptions about things that they haven't actually experienced," Pegula added.

Gauff herself also defended Sabalenka, suggesting that the Belarusian's critics had crossed the line when it came to objecting to her comments in the aftermath of the women's singles final at Roland Garros.

"I'm not the person that will fuel hate in the world" - Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff (Source: Getty)

During her own pre-tournament press conference at Wimbledon, Coco Gauff opined that the criticism directed towards Aryna Sabalenka was excessive. The 21-year-old also blatantly refused to add further fuel to the fire.

"I’m not the person that will fuel hate in the world. I think people were taking it too far. It was just really targeting and saying a lot of things that I felt were not nice. I didn’t want to fuel that more," Gauff said.

Sabalenka, Gauff and Pegula are the top three seeds in the women's singles draw at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. They will start their campaigns at the grass Major with first-round matches against Carson Branstine, Dayana Yastremska and Elisabetta Cocciaretto respectively.