"We don’t have a net machine": Jessica Pegula lambasts Australian Open organisers for lack of facilities

America’s Jessica Pegula took a dig at the Australian Open organisers for not providing adequate facilities for the competition. The 30-year-old is one of the top-10 players currently playing in women’s tennis in the singles category.

Pegula’s outing at the Australian Open 2024 was not a great one as she was knocked out after suffering a shocking defeat in the third round to Olga Danilovic in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-1.

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While reposting a comment from the fan on the social media platform X — previously known as Twitter — the New York-born star lambasted authorities for not providing good facilities during the competition, such as a ‘net machine’. “We have cameras in every player area and everywhere we turn but we don’t have a net machine,” she wrote.

Pegula’s journey in Melbourne would have been a bitter pill to swallow for the reigning world number six, who entered the competition as one of the favourites to go all the way, especially after her heroics in the last Grand Slam of the year in 2024 where she finished as the runner up after losing to current world number one Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets with a score of 7-5, 7-5.

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Pegula is also famous for its strong personality. She has been criticised over the years for using her privileged background to succeed on the tennis court, something she never tried to hide. After suffering a surprising defeat, the current world number six once again talked about the importance of having personalities in the sport.

"It's always kind of been a little bit of a stuffy, uppity kind of sport,” she said. At the end of the day we're entertainers, and I think it can help the sport having more personality. Nowadays it's maybe tougher with social media that everything kind of comes back to haunt you. Back in the day when social media wasn't around, you had so much more personality in tennis, probably because those things didn't stick with you forever. I think the more personality, the better."

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