Jessica Pegula has received some criticism from tennis fans after withdrawing from her doubles event while continuing to play in singles at the National Bank Canadian Open (Omnium Banque Nationale) in Montreal.
World No. 3 Pegula and her doubles partner Coco Gauff have withdrawn from the discipline at the WTA 1000 event. The top-seeded pair were set to face seventh seeds Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama in the quarter-final.
However, the demand was too much for the two American players, as they had faced each other just hours earlier in the quarter-finals of the singles event. Pegula emerged victorious over the world No. 7, but the windy conditions made it a tough match, and it took almost three hours for the 29-year-old to win 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
Speaking after her singles match, Pegula made it clear she wasn't sure about playing doubles with Gauff in a few hours' time.
"I think we’re supposed to play doubles in a few hours. We’ll see how we feel bc that was a really tough match. It’s always tough playing your doubles partner. We know each other’s games so well. It just came down to the wire at the end," she said.
Indeed, it was later revealed that the duo had decided not to continue in doubles at this tournament, with the reason for their withdrawal being cited as a back injury suffered by Pegula. However, some fans took issue with the fact that she was still competing in singles if the injury had forced her to withdraw from doubles.
One Twitter user posted the following caption:
"Jessica Pegula pulls out of doubles with a 'back injury'
Still playing singles though I see which is surely more physical on her back.
Wish these excuses would stop when players don't want to play doubles to rest for singles
Fines, no points awarded in doubles for the week should be the option."
Some fans agreed with their post:
"This is so unprofessional! A scandal. She can't play a singles BO3 and a doubles with super tie break in the 3rd???? What a shame for all the people who bought tickets and the teams working around the clock to organise the tournament," wrote one.
Meanwhile, another pointed out that it works differently in other sports:
"In athletics, if an athlete pulls out of one event at a meeting e.g. sprinter pulls out of 200m after doing 100m, they can't take part in future events at same meeting e.g. relay. Same should apply for tennis."
However, some defended Pegula's decision:
"Singles more important at this stage of the tournament. What is your problem now?" one commented.
"It was obvious after her match with Gauff, players are not going to risk injury playing another match so quickly after such a tough match," wrote another.
Jessica Pegula 🇺🇸 pulls out of doubles with a 'back injury' Still playing singles though I see which is surely more physical on her back. Wish these excuses would stop when players don't want to play doubles to rest for singles Fines, no points awarded in doubles for the…
