"I wish I could have given the fans more yesterday; I was not myself & the combination of a long year/getting sick hit me hard"

World No. 3 Jessica Pegula has reflected on her elimination from the WTA Finals held in Fort Worth, Texas. She had a disappointing tournament, losing all three of her group-stage matches in both singles and doubles.

Pegula was the third player after Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur to qualify for the season-ending championship after reaching the semifinals of the San Diego Open in October. She went on to win her maiden WTA 1000 tournament in Guadalajara the following week.

Pegula took to Twitter to apologize to her fans, explaining that a long year and illness had hit her hard. She, however, added that it was an honor to be part of the event with "the most amazing group of girls."

"I wish I could have given the fans more yesterday..I was not myself & the combination of a long year/getting sick hit me hard. However I’m so honored to be w/ the most amazing group of girls. Wishing them all the best in the rest of the tourney, we all have much to be proud of," Jessica Pegula wrote.

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"I just think it's crazy that in that realm I'm able to hit and be mentioned in the same statistics as Serena Williams" - Jessica Pegula

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff became the first American duo to qualify for the WTA Finals in both singles and doubles since the Williams sisters in 2009.

In a recent interview with Eurosport, Pegula spoke about how incredible it was to be mentioned in the same statistics as Serena Williams.

“It's crazy to me that I've been able to see stats where like, ‘since Serena, since Venus, since Serena and Venus’. And obviously I don't have the Grand Slam accolades that they do," Pegula said. "And to be honest, I never will, I’m 28 I'm not going to win 22 Grand Slams, but I just think it's crazy that in that realm I'm able to hit and be mentioned in the same statistics as her [Serena].”