Jessica Pegula has expressed her disappointment at the “unfortunate” decision to deny the women’s doubles finalists at the Madrid Open the chance to make post-match speeches, saying she wished the event’s organisers had handled the situation “in a more mature, professional way”.
Pegula and her partner Coco Gauff, the top seeds, were defeated 6-1, 6-4 by Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia in Sunday’s final, but there was bemusement on the winners’ podium afterwards as it dawned on the players that they would not be afforded the customary opportunity to address the crowd. The participants in the men’s doubles final, played the previous day, were all permitted to speak as normal.
The tournament has yet to offer an explanation for the decision but Pegula, speaking ahead of the Italian Open, alluded to a “a build-up of a lot of tension” over “a variety of different things”.
“What happened in Madrid, it was really disappointing,” said Pegula, the world No 3. “I know a lot of like what happened, detail leading up to the event, just because [Azarenka] and I are on the players’ council.
“I had a feeling something was going to happen. Did I think we were not going to be able to speak? No, I’ve never heard of that in my life. Even in a 10K challenger final, you would speak.
“I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision, or how they actually had a conversation and decided, like, ‘Wow, this is a great decision we’re going to do, and there’s going to be no-backlash against this.’
“To be honest, it kind of spoke for itself. We were upset when it happened, especially being told during the trophy ceremony we weren’t going to be allowed to speak. We were like, ‘Well, I guess this just kind of proves a point.’ We didn’t really do anything, and here we are.”
The furore marked another flashpoint at a tournament mired in controversy from the outset. The outfits worn by ball girls at the event, consisting of crop tops and light, pleated skirts, were condemned by Spain’s Association for Women in Professional Sport as “a form of sexist violence”, and there was further unrest when players highlighted the size disparity between birthday cakes presented to the eventual champions, Aryna Sabalenka and Carlos Alcaraz, on social media.
The latter situation was directly addressed by the tournament director, former men’s world No 12 Feliciano Lopez, who offered a forthright response to Azarenka when she tweeted a picture of the two cakes side by side, commenting: “Couldn’t be more right on the treatment.”
“I’m surprised by this reaction after this gesture!” wrote Lopez. “1. Carlos had just won his match to reach the final. 2. He was playing on centre court. 3. The tournament is played in Spain, even though it is an international event.”
Neither Pegula nor Gauff, who likewise said it was “not the right decision” to silence the players, offered any detail on the background to the situation.
“I was told it was a situation that didn’t involve me that happened,” said Gauff. “I’m not going to go into that situation. People probably know what it was, but that’s what I was told. I said that situation, for me, was not deep enough to not have a trophy ceremony. We worked hard to get to that final.”
The tournament has so far declined to comment on the reasons for the decision. There was a tinderbox moment after Saturday’s women’s singles final, however, when Iga Swiatek called out organisers over the late-night scheduling of her semi-final against Veronika Kudermetova.
“It’s not fun to play at 1am,” said Swiatek, the world No 1, after coming out on the wrong end of an absorbing three-set struggle against Sabalenka. “I’m happy anyway that I was able to get past this experience, and survive and be in the final.”
Lopez, standing a few feet away, looked daggers at the Pole as she spoke, and his mood no doubt darkened further when Sabalenka subsequently alluded to the cake fiasco in her winners’ speech.
“I think it’s all because of yesterday’s cake, it was too good,” laughed the Belarusian.
Whatever the truth, there can be no doubt about the convergence of unfortunate circumstances that blighted the tournament.
“There was just a build-up of a lot of tension,” said Pegula. “It just kind of got worse and worse and worse regarding a lot of issues that you guys see online, funny tweets or whatever.
“That didn’t help the situation. I don’t know if it was the sole reason, but I think there were just a lot of things built up that led to that decision, which is unfortunate.
“I wish they could have handled it in a more mature, professional way. That’s not what happened.”