Jessica Pegula jokes that she finished season "through the Iga Swiatek bakery" after 2023 WTA Finals defeat

Jessica Pegula has joked that she ended the year "through the bakery factory" after she finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the 2023 WTA Finals.

World No. 5 Pegula played at a high level throughout the 2023 WTA Finals in Cancun. In the Group Stage, she won all three of her matches, prevailing over Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, and Maria Sakkari without dropping a set. The American player then did the same against her compatriot and doubles partner Coco Gauff in the semi-final to set up a battle for the title against Swiatek.

However, she was not able to overcome the four-time Grand Slam champion in the final, as Swiatek dominated the match to win 6-1, 6-0, and re-claimed the World No. 1 position in the process.

After the match, Pegula congratulated Swiatek on her victory and spoke of how the 22-year-old pushed other players to become "better".

"I want to say congrats to Iga and your team and family on an amazing year. Ending the year #1 winning and winning this tournament, it's really incredible and you continue to push me to be a better player every year... It makes me a much better player. I really appreciate that aspect of it. Of course, I wish I could have done better today but that's not how it goes sometimes," she said.

Later on, the 29-year-old took to social media to joke about her opponent's dominance in their clash.

"Ended the year through the Iga bakery factory lol. Jokes aside. 2023 in the books," she wrote on her Instagram story along with a picture of herself unwinding with a drink.

The "bakery" quote was a reference to a joke in the tennis community about Swiatek owning a metaphorical "bakery". This is due to her ability to defeat many players with a scoreline of 6-0 or 6-1, scores which are labeled "bagel" or "breadstick" by fans.