WTA Apologizes After Hot Mic Catches Pegula Calling Andreeva a Diva

The WTA has issued an apology after a hot microphone caught Jessica Pegula calling Mirra Andreeva a “diva” during a livestreamed practice session at the WTA Finals.

The Women’s Tennis Association admitted it failed to inform players and coaches that the microphones were active.

“The WTA takes full responsibility for failing to inform our players and their teams that microphones, in place to give fans a livestream of the players’ practice, were active on the courts at the WTA Finals,” the association said in a statement to Front Office Sports on Thursday, Nov. 5.

“We sincerely apologize for failing to meet our responsibility to ensure players and coaches were properly informed,” the WTA concluded.

The apology came one day after Pegula, 32, was caught on a recording criticizing Andreeva, 19.

The conversation happened Wednesday, Nov. 4, after a joint practice session at Indian Wells, California.

Pegula was speaking with her coach, Mark Knowles, when she called Andreeva a “diva” and said she “needs to be humbled” and “put in her place.”

Pegula also referenced Conchita Martinez, who coaches Andreeva.

“If I was a coach and my girl, you just played four great games, and you’re up four-zero, and you’re mad at me, hitting balls at me, I would be like, first of all, [that’s] disrespectful to the other person,” Pegula says in the video.

“You’re four-zero, shut the f--- ... ” she continued to her coach.

Pegula added, “Conchita, like pokes her and like eggs on her behavior.”

She then referenced Coco Gauff, who she will face in the Finals on Sunday, Nov. 8.

Pegula said if Andreeva had Coco Gauff’s “mentality,” then she would “be better than Coco.”

The WTA had been livestreaming the practice sessions of its top eight players.

A tour source told Front Office Sports that the microphones were not meant to pick up conversations between players and coaches, only the ambient noise of practice.

The source said practice livestreams at the WTA Finals will continue, but without audio.

However, clips of the conversation had already circulated widely on social media.

More clips kept surfacing even after the tour deleted its videos from YouTube.

This put Pegula at the center of an unexpected controversy just days before the season-ending championship.

Pegula, ranked No. 5 in the world, was overheard telling Knowles that the third-ranked Andreeva “needs to be humbled.”

“She’s always been very nice to me, but I’ve lost a little bit of respect for her because I’m just like, this girl -- I mean, she’s a nice girl, but she’s a diva,” Pegula said of the Russian teenager.

The conversation followed a practice session in which Andreeva reportedly won four consecutive games against Pegula.

Andreeva had allegedly become frustrated during that stretch.

“If I were her coach and my player had just played four great games, she’s up 4-0, she gets mad at me and chases me down… I’d tell her not to talk to me like that,” Pegula told Knowles.

She called that kind of behavior disrespectful, saying she would tell her own player, “You’re up 4-0, like, shut the f*** up.”