First Jessica Pegula told Aryna Sabalenka “I really don’t wanna like you right now” and then she swiped the world No 1’s cocktail after the match.
All this, of course, was said and done tongue in cheek after Pegula lost the Miami Open final against Sabalenka.
The pair met for the third time in a row in a big final after Sabalenka beat the American in straight sets in the 2024 Cincinnati Open and US Open finals.
Pegula had a chance for revenge, but the Belarusian once again came out on top in the showpiece match in Florida as she won 7-5, 6-2 to lift her eighth WTA 1000 trophy and take her career singles tally to 19.
Sabalenka now leads her head-to-head against Pegula 6-2 and the last three defeats have left a mark on the world No 4.
During the trophy presentation interview, Pegula told her opponent: “Congrats Aryna to you and your team. Three finals… I really don’t wanna like you right now but you’re the best player in the world for a reason.
“You keep pushing and challenging everyone to get better. Congrats on an amazing couple of weeks here. Great tournament at Indian Wells too. The last month of tennis you’ve been able to play is amazing.”
But the 31-year-old did get some revenge as she stole Sabalenka’s cocktail during an interview with the Tennis Channel after the match.
The Belarusian was in the studio with tennis great Martina Navratilova as she was rewardec with a drink for winning the title.
But Pegula simply walked up to the desk, had a sip of the margarita and decided she liked it before walking off set again to the amusement of Sabalenka and Navratilova.
Don’t worry, the newly-crowned Miami Open champion did get a replacement drink.
Sabalenka has no doubt been the best player in the WTA Tour for the past 18 months and she is currently 3,000-plus points ahead of Iga Swiatek in the WTA Rankings.
She reached seven finals last year, winning four titles including the Australian Open and US Open, while this year she has already reached four finals, winning in Miami and Brisbane.
Asked about the improvement in Sabalenka’s game, Pegula said: I mean, it’s not necessarily, like, I ever feel pace of shot as much.
I still feel there are other girls I have played where they hit harder, but I just think she’s, like, her first two balls are really good. She’s really good at being aggressive off the first ball and not letting you kind of dictate the point.
“I think her movement’s gotten a lot better, and then she added more slice, dropshots, she’s gotten kind of better at those intangible shots.
Jessie got her revenge and swiped Aryna’s Marg-Aryna during her TC Desk interview #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/D6F1AT6Lv0
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) March 29, 2025
“Like I was saying, kind of the serve. If it’s not maybe working, I think she definitely has two or three serves she can go to to help her start the point instead of always relying on a second serve the whole time. So, I mean, there is a lot of things she really does well.
“Everyone talks about her aggressive style of play, which is for sure, but she’s always kind of had that, and I think it’s more of her being able to mix in the other intangibles that makes her aggressive game play even more successful.”