Arabic version: رابطة اللاعبات المحترفات تعتذر بعد بث تعليقات بيغولا خلال التدريب

According to BBC News, the Women’s Tennis Association has accepted “full responsibility” after private comments by Jessica Pegula about Mirra Andreeva were picked up by microphones and live-streamed from a practice court at Indian Wells, California.

The practice sessions were streamed before the WTA Finals, which begin on Sunday and run until 15 November. In a conversation with coach Mark Knowles, world number five Pegula called French Open champion Andreeva “a diva” and said she “needs to be humbled”. Pegula also said Andreeva was “wonderful”, “smart” and had “the perfect serve”.

Pegula’s agent, Chris McCormack, told BBC Sport that she had been “completely unaware” the courtside microphones could capture the conversation or that it would be broadcast publicly. He said Pegula had since contacted those involved directly. The WTA removed YouTube streams of Wednesday’s Indian Wells practice sessions after footage had already been shared on social media.

The WTA said the microphones were intended to capture rally sounds for fans rather than conversations on court. It apologised for not informing players and their teams that microphones were active, and said there would be no audio on future videos. Pegula, a member of the WTA players’ council, had previously criticised additional behind-the-scenes cameras at the Australian Open as an “invasion of privacy”.

Andreeva, ranked world number three, began working with former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez in April 2024. Pegula and Andreeva are in different WTA Finals groups but could meet in the semi-finals or final. A separate live-streamed practice session appeared to show world number one Elena Rybakina in an angry exchange with coach Stefano Vukov before practising with Linda Noskova.