WTA apologizes after hot mic catches Jessica Pegula calling Mirra Andreeva a ‘diva’ during practice session

The WTA reportedly apologized Thursday for failing to adequately communicate to players and coaches that training sessions at Indian Wells were being recorded by microphones, according to The Athletic.

The organization was forced to release a statement after a hot mic picked up Jessica Pegula referring to Mirra Andreeva as a “diva” during what Pegula and one of her coaches, Mark Knowles, believed to be a private conversion.

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During the training, which was broadcast live to fans, Pegula also said she had “lost respect” for one of Andreeva’s coaches for allowing the Russian player to act on the pitch.

In its statement, the WTA apologized for “failing to uphold its responsibility to ensure players and coaches were properly informed,” according to The Athletic.

A representative for Pegula told The Athletic that the tennis star “had absolutely no idea that her conversation with Mark was being broadcast live and certainly did not expect a private discussion during practice to be made public.”

In addition to these comments, Pegula also compared Andreeva to Coco Gauff, saying that Andreeva could surpass Gauff as a player if Andreeva adopted Gauff’s “mentality,” according to The Athletic.

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Knowles agreed with this assessment.

“It’s so funny how we see her and then we see Coco’s mentality. If she had Coco’s mentality, she would be better than her,” Pegula said.

“Oh, definitely,” Knowles replied.

These comments came after a training session in which Pegula faced Andreeva. The Russian won four straight matches against Pegula during the session, according to The Athletic, but she also got angry and started hitting balls towards her coach, Conchita Martínez, during practice. This behavior irritated Pegula after the session ended.

Following the incident, the WTA removed all training videos filmed at the event from its YouTube page before Thursday. However, future training sessions were still scheduled to be streamed live on the WTA YouTube page.

When a workout featuring Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova aired Thursday after the WTA’s apology, it did so without audio.