Jessica Pegula, Gael Monfils, Madison Keys, and other athletes have recalled wild anecdotes of their encounters with doping officials. All the players are in the middle of the ongoing 2025 tennis season. While Pegula recently advanced to the semifinal round of the Wuhan Open after besting Katerina Siniakova, Keys' latest appearance was at the US Open, and Monfils last competed in the Chengdu Open in September.
The athletes recently sat for a media conversation, where they opened up about wild encounters with doping control officers.
Monfils revealed that he was 21 when he faced an awkward encounter with a doping official after he returned home from a long night of partying at 5:45 am. He said that five minutes after he fell asleep, the officer showed up at his door. Revealing a hilarious yet awkward situation, he said that the officer waited for 10 hours for his test after he said that he couldn't pee right away.
"It’s not that I don’t want to pee. I’ll be honest – I’ve been out. I peed like five minutes ago. I can’t. I woke up at 3pm, the guy was scrolling his phone. [I say] ‘Hey, bro.’ I pee. So he was waiting for me for 10 hours. He could steal everything in my house," said Monfils, via The Guardian.
Following Monfils, Keys revealed her story of how she got one strike, stating that doping tests could be stressful. Opening up about her experience, she said that she faced the situation while traveling for a tournament.
"We ran to the hotel, packed and got on a plane two hours later and I forgot to update my whereabouts [to say] that I wasn’t going to be in Beijing – I was going to be on a plane. They came the next morning. I remember landing in Linz and immediately sobbing, like: ‘Oh no, I have a strike.’ It’s so stressful," said Madison Keys.
Pegula, on the other hand, spoke about the doping tests, stating that she was not okay with anyone else handling her whereabouts.
"I do it by myself. I just would never want someone else doing that because if they messed up, I’d be livid," said Jessica Pegula.
Jessica Pegula expressed about playing tennis after becoming mother
In one of the latest episodes of 'The Player's Box Podcast,' Jessica Pegula opened up about playing tennis after becoming a mother. When another host of the podcast, Jennifer Brady, asked about her career in tennis after motherhood, she replied that there was no possibility of her playing tennis after she had a child.
"No. There is no chance I would come back after having a kid. I admire and respect the ones that do but that's just not on the cards for me. I cannot see myself doing that at all," said Jessica Pegula. (from 11:59)
Along with Pegula, Madison Keys also shared her point of view, echoing Pegula, stating that she already faces a hard time traveling and managing her tight schedule; however, adding a baby to it will make it tougher for her.
Jessica Pegula is engaged to her long-term counterpart, Taylor Gahagen, and Keys got married to her coach, Bjorn Fratangelo, in November 2024.