Jessica Pegula provided a humorous reason for swiping Aryna Sabalenka’s margarita after the pair’s Miami Open final match. Pegula lost the match 5-7, 2-6, her third defeat to the Belarussian in three WTA Tour finals.
The incident occurred during a Tennis Channel interview with Sabalenka in their Miami courtside studio. As the World No. 1 celebrated her first Miami Open championship win with a network-provided margarita, Pegula made a surprising appearance and quickly withdrew after taking the Belarusian’s drink.
Jessica Pegula, who defeated Iryna Shymanovic 6-0, 6-3 in the second round of the 2025 Credit One Charleston Open, explained to Tennis Channel why she took Aryna Sabalenka’s drink in Miami.
“I had to take something from her. She’s taken three first place trophies from me. Like, come on, I can take her margarita,” Pegula amusingly admitted.
When asked about how the margarita tasted, the WTA No. 4 replied:
“It wasn’t bad. Had a nice tajin salt rim, so that was nice. I enjoyed that.”
She continued elaborating on taking away Sabalenka’s drink at the WTA 1000 event while lauding the reigning No. 1 over her on-court performances and results.
“Yeah, it was funny. I saw her up there and I’d seen her with it before and I was like, ‘you know what? I’ve had enough of this girl sipping her margarita after winning every match.’ It’s just ridiculous. But I also know she’s very outgoing and goofy so I thought like, it fit the moment and she’s been playing amazing, so kudos to her, but that was funny,” Pegula added.
The seven-time WTA Tour-level singles titlist went on to talk about how fans at the Credit One Charleston Open appreciated the funny moment between her and Sabalenka in Miami.
“So many people actually asked me, within two days, I’ve been here for like two days, ‘I loved it when you stole her drink’,” she stated further.
Prior to her Miami Open final loss to Sabalenka this year, Pegula finished second to the Belarusian in two high-profile 2024 finals.
