Jessica Pegula upset with Madrid Open organisers after finalists denied speeches

MADRID – World No. 3 Jessica Pegula has criticised Madrid Open organisers after the American and her fellow women’s doubles finalists were not allowed to make speeches at the trophy ceremony.

Pegula and Coco Gauff lost the women’s doubles final 6-1, 6-4 to Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia on Sunday and none of the players were given the chance to address the audience.

But the men’s doubles finalists were allowed to do so following their match a day earlier.

“What happened in Madrid, it was really disappointing... I had a feeling something was going to happen,” Pegula said on Tuesday ahead of this week’s Italian Open.

“Did I think we were not going to be able to speak? No. I’ve never heard of that... in my life. I don’t know what century everyone was living in when they made that decision. How they actually had a conversation and decided: ‘Wow, this is a great decision we’re going to make and there’s going to be no backlash against this’.”

The Guardian newspaper reported that she felt there might have been “tension behind the scenes”, but did not elaborate further. Reuters has contacted organisers for comment.

BBC Sport, meanwhile, quoted organisers as saying of the decision: “The tournament will not comment on the matter.”

Tennis tournaments at all levels conclude with a trophy ceremony and more often than not, both finalists will be given the opportunity to speak.

The women’s finalists found out that their speech had been cut only when they were quickly ushered to take photos with their trophies.

“The guy was like: ‘Now you go up on the podium and take one (photo) together’,” added Pegula.

“Then Vika (Azarenka) turned to us and said: ‘There’s no speeches’. We were like: ‘What?’ She was like: ‘We’re not allowed to talk’. We realised there were no microphones set up, there’s nothing. It was very rushed.”

The controversial incident on Sunday came two days after organisers were mocked on social media for giving world No. 2 men’s star Carlos Alcaraz a much larger cake – a three-tier – than Aryna Sabalenka, who shares the same birthday on May 5.

Azarenka had responded to a viral tweet slamming the cake situation, implying that the Madrid Open had treated the genders differently. She wrote: “Couldn’t be more accurate on the treatment.”

Gauff was also unhappy about the whole incident on Sunday, adding that the issue was not about the speech itself.

“I have a lot of finals, so it’s not about that,” she said.

“It’s more about the principle behind it, so this can’t happen again for future girls, taking the opportunity away from them.

“I don’t know, maybe racism, homophobia, something like that. You can’t just cut, no speech, no nothing. You have to take those criticisms.”

Azarenka said on Twitter that it was “hard to explain” to her son Leo that she was not able to speak at the trophy ceremony.

World No. 7 Ons Jabeur, who did not play in Madrid, tweeted her support for the women’s finalists.

She said: “So unfortunate that you were not given a chance to address the crowd and your opponents. This is sad and unacceptable.” REUTERS