Tennis Overdose Haunts Jessica Pegula Early Into 2024 as She Shares a Saddening Update Following Australian Open Agony

Tennis players are some of the healthiest athletes on the planet. If a player wants to play all year round, they have to be at the peak of their health. While they are at the prime of human fitness, playing too many matches can cause a backlash. Jessica Pegula has unfortunately fallen into such a position. The American player recently announced withdrawal from a few upcoming tournaments.

Pegula’s problems also extended to her double partner, Coco Gauff. Her exhaustion from 2023 caught up to her, and she had to retire from the first two tournaments. 

Jessica Pegula withdraws as 2023 exhaustion catches up to her

While she played well throughout the year, the extensive schedule caught up to her in 2023. She withdrew from Adelaide International after winning two matches. She lost in round 2 of the Australian Open and withdrew from the doubles stint of the tournament. After the tournament, Pegula announced that she would be withdrawing from the Middle Eastern stint, the WTA 1000 events in Doha and Dubai.

She is stepping back from the tournament due to a neck injury, not usually seen in tennis players. Pegula joins Madison Keys, Petra Kvitova, and Belinda Bencic as high-profile players who will skip February’s Middle East tour. Keys is recovering from a shoulder injury that prompted her to miss the Australian Open, while Kvitova and Bencic are on maternity leave.

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As per various sources, a tennis player focusing on singles plays an average of 76 matches in the year. These matches take place in the major tournaments, the Masters championships, the final tournaments, and several exhibition events.

Pegula went above and beyond and competed in 134 matches throughout the year. 76 singles matches, 48 doubles, and 10 mixed doubles bouts saw Pegula clashing against her opponents. Although the 30-year-old found herself exhausted, the WTA calendar is set to get more exhausting.

New WTA calendar chagrins players

According to the new calendar, the number of WTA 1000 events will increase to ten. Seven of them will last over two weeks each, and four new WTA 500 tournaments will be launched. This will make a total of 17 events in a single season. The expansion will also increase the number of mandatory WTA 1000 events. Players have begun to raise their eyebrows, emphasizing the consequences of such hectic schedules.

When asked about it, Iga Swiatek said that many players are unhappy, but the WTA does not listen to its players many times. “Some of the decisions seem to be the result of promises made to third parties, federations, tournament organizers. We find out about them after the fact. This causes frustration. Only a handful of players knew about the calendar reform, and the WTA cannot lead to such a situation again.” 

Pegula found it difficult to compete at the start of the tournament. Now, she will have to find a way to recover quickly and participate in even more championships.

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