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Jessica Pegula came into the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on a high after winning the Bad Homburg Open title. However, Pegula's first-round outing at the All England Club turned out be a nightmare, as unseeded Elisabetta Cocciaretto from Italy defeated her in less than an hour. During the match, Pam Shriver came up with a bold theory to explain Pegula's subpar performance. Several fans though, objected to Shriver's take.
Towards the end of the American's shocking 2-6, 3-6 loss to the Italian, Shriver, commentating on the match for ESPN, suggested that Pegula's poor display could have boiled down to the WTA No. 3 being on her period. Shriver's take stemmed from the fact that the 31-year-old wore colored underwear for the match.
"If I can come up with a theory here. Few years ago, the club allowed the women players to wear colored tennis pants if they choose to and Jessie is today. We all have to realize that cycles are a part of what we have to deal with. She's got strapping on her knee. She looks like a different player from the (Bad Homburg Open) final two days ago," Shriver said.
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Many tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) blatantly disapproved of Pam Shriver's theory about Jessica Pegula's defeat boiling down to her menstrual cycle.
"Pam Shriver just said Pegula must be on her period because she switched to colored underwear pre match, and that’s why she lost. This actually happened. This is what we are dealing with folks. How is this real," a fan wrote.
The same fan later added:
"I’m not questioning the veracity of her claim, I just think given the nature of the WTA schedule and how often you’re going to play matches under that constraint, that’s a wild excuse to make."
"Really??? Aryna and Madi Keys also play with a color short yesterday, so we can assume the same???," questioned one.
"Pam Shriver always saying BS. A specialist of Bs. Her time has come to go enjoy her dog and retreat," another added.
"Shriver better shut her big mouth," yet another fan chimed in.
"I'm upset" - Jessica Pegula after being stunned by Elisabetta Cocciaretto in Wimbledon 2025 first round
Following her chastening 58-minute loss to Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the first round of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, Jessica Pegula reflected on her disastrous performance at a post-match press conference. Here, the American laid bare her disappointment at crashing out from the grass Major, but she graciously praised her Italian opponent's level, saying:
"For this to happen today, it's disappointing. I don't know how else to put it. I'm upset that I wasn't able to turn anything around. But at the same time, I do feel like she played kind of insane. Hats off to her. Kudos to her for playing at a high level that I couldn't match it today."
Pegula, who has so far won three WTA Tour-level titles this season, also looked forward to the North American summer hardcourt swing, which includes the year's last Grand Slam, the US Open. Last year, the American finished as the runner-up at Flushing Meadows.
"Bonus is I can go prep for the hard courts, which seems to be my favourite surface anyway, and see if I can just make some more magic this summer, I guess," she added.
Jessica Pegula's young compatriot Coco Gauff, the WTA No. 2, also suffered a first-round, straight-set loss to Dayana Yastremska at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.
