American tennis star Jessica Pegula casually drank from a can of Heineken during her press conference in order to speed up a routine drugs test following her US Open exit.
The World No 7's run at her home Grand Slam came to an end at the hands of Iga Swiatek as the number one seed secured a 6-3 7-6(4) victory to reach the semi-finals. It ended Pegula’s sensational tournament as she capped her strongest season to date with the best finish of her career in New York.
Pegula reached three Grand Slam quarter-finals and became the top-ranked American tennis player in the world. She also progressed to the doubles final at the French Open during an impressive overall campaign.
And following her defeat to Swiatek, the 28-year-old sipped from a can of Heineken lager while speaking to the media, which caught the eye of one reporter in particular. When complimented for her choice, Pegula said she was drinking in order to pee for the impending drug test, although also admitted the beverage helped after the loss.
“I’m trying to pee for doping,” Pegula confirmed. “Although it does help ease the loss!”
Pegula - who has never reached a singles Grand Slam semi-final in her career - was clearly somewhat demoralised by her defeat. It was the second time she has lost to Swiatek in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam this year after she fell to the Pole at Roland Garros.
She also lost to former World No 1 Ash Barty in the last eight at the Australian Open. Pegula is hoping she will avoid them in the future, adding: “Honestly, I don't know. I go back and forth. Oh, I should be positive. At the same time I'm like, three quarter-finals.
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“I wish I could have done it here at my home Slam, but I guess not. I wish I didn't have to play Iga every quarter-final or Ash Barty, which seem to be the two people that don't really lose that often.
“I mean, I had a great year at the Slams. I know there's still some tournaments left. I'm a little deflated right now. I just wish it would have been different tonight.”
Pegula is a heiress to her family fortune valued at £5.8 billion with her father Terence listed as the 345th richest person in the world. He made his fortune in multiple ways, initially through natural gas development and now from owning multi-million sport franchises in the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL.
Swiatek will face Ons Jabeur in the US Open final after she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.
