Startling admission
Local favorite Jessica Pegula staged an epic fightback to make the finals of the 2024 US Open where she will face Aryna Sabalenka, an opponent who earlier this week made a startling admission over her gambling habits.
Sabalenka, the world number two from Belorussia, admitted to betting “thousands” on practice matches at a press conference Wednesday, fresh from defeating Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinal.
Sabalenka is gunning for her third Grand Slam and made the finals after beating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6(2) on Thursday, a match in which at one stage the crowd wildly cheered every point Sabalenka lost.
helped her prepare for the “pressures and tensions of real matches”
The mental strength the Belorussian displayed in closing out the second set to the American, however, could have something to do with her betting admission. According to Sabalenka, playing practice matches for high stakes has helped her prepare for the “pressures and tensions of real matches.”
Pegula’s mental strength is one of her strongest suits, which means the Saturday showdown against Sabalenka in the American’s native New York could go either way.
Recreating the pressure
Sabalenka’s admission of staking a “decent amount of money” on practice games with her hitting coach, however, comes at a questionable time, given unprecedented scandals involving US and international professional and collegiate athletes for illegal sports betting and match-fixing.
According to The Mirror, Sabalenka stated her coach “would put the money on the table” and that at one time she both won and lost $5,000. “The money from your coach is the sweetest money, you know,” she said on Wednesday.
Sabalenka stressed, however, that the betting helps to “simulate the matches” pressure on the practice court.” She added the exercise was “really cool […] Especially when you winning this money and not losing.”
Sabalenka is the strong favorite to take the women’s championship, with BetMGM offering -300 on the moneyline for the Belorussian, while Pegula is available on FanDuel at +255.
Homegrown favorite
While Sabalenka might be odds-on to win at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, the Buffalo-born Pegula will have massive home-crowd support. The American’s gutsiness and swagger has won her many fans, exemplified by her 2022 US Open quarterfinal defeat to Iga Swiatek in 2022. Pegula arrived at a press conference sipping on a Heineken, explaining she needed to “pee for doping” and admitting the beer “eased the loss.”
Fast-forward two years and Pegula has made the final in what she called her “childhood dream.” Whether she will continue her scintillating performances at the Open to add an extra shine to her dream on Saturday remains to be seen.
if it’s meant to be, it’s going to happen”
As Sabalenka put it after her semifinal win: “if it’s meant to be, it’s going to happen. The only thing you can control is yourself.”