"She was blinding me a little bit with her diamonds" - Jessica Pegula jokes about Donna Vekic's diamonds hindering her performance

Jessica Pegula was embroiled in a very tricky match against Donna Vekic who looked to cause a huge upset in the opening stages of Indian Wells. The Croatian could not complete this feat as Pegula booked her spot in the third round before joking after the match that she was hindered by her opponent's jewellery .

Vekic has recently began a new business called DASH. It is jewellery with the intention of wearing it wherever you are or whatever you are doing, including playing a tennis match. Along with entrepreneur Ashna Ruia, the duo created this new project with Vekic always having been fond of diamonds.

It seems that Pegula does not see them through the same lens as her opponent. Vekic has been keeping to brand and wears the jewellery when competing. It has not helped her on court as she continues to slide down the order, but she was handed a wildcard for the third WTA 1000 competition of the year.

With the help of a brace of tiebreaks, she defeated young talent Tereza Valentova to set up a tie against the Dubai champion. Firmly the second favourite, Vekic turned some heads when she took the first set, breaking back early in the set before completing it on her second match point. Pegula wasted no time in clawing her way back, breaking twice enroute to a 5-1 lead. Vekic was powerless to the barrage she was facing and the match was level.

Again, Pegula broke to love again to kick off the set. She survived a break point before right at the end sneaking ahead at a critical time. The world number five sealed the victory in clinical fashion, taking her first match point as she raced into the third round. Jelena Ostapenko will be her next opponent on court.

Pegula was in high praise of Vekic after the match. "She's great though. Love Donna. She's super nice. Super friendly," she commented.

However, there was a period in the match where Pegula was not at the races. Seeing the funny side, she put the blame on Vekic's jewellery. "She was blinding me a little bit with her diamonds," she stated. "Maybe that's why I couldn't make a ball for a while. It was crazy, right? You could the airplanes could see it. It was a big necklace."

It was not just the jewellery but the outfit as well fitting in the surroundings. "She's blinged out to the max. She also matched the back of the scoreboard with her outfit and the jewellery."

That gave some insight on how to defeat Pegula, with rivals now taking notes. "Now, we know how to give Jessica Pagula a hard time: wear diamonds and match the back."

This may be needed with Pegula in stunning form. She reached the semi-final stage at both the Brisbane International and Australian Open to kick off the year, following on from falling at that stage in the WTA Finals at the end of last year.

Following on from the first Grand Slam of the year, she opted to skip the Qatar Open with sights firmly set on a fourth WTA 1000 title at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. She blasted her way past the competition, taking down Elina Svitolina in the final to take home glory and show her intentions and title credentials for the Sunshine double. Once Indian Wells has been completed, the tennis roadshow will traverse across the country from California to Florida with the Miami Open following in suit.