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Prayers Pouring In For Women's Tennis Star Jessica Pegula

Originally posted on The Spun | By Chris Rosvoglou | Last updated Jul 1, 2025 7:50 PM ET

Tennis fans are keeping Jessica Pegula in their thoughts after Tuesday's loss at Wimbledon.

Pegula, the No. 3 women's player in the world, was dismantled by Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round at Wimbledon. It was a disappointing result considering she was coming off a title run at Bad Homburg.

"She played absolutely incredible tennis," Pegula said. "Do I think I played the best match ever? No. But I definitely don't think I was playing bad. It wasn't like I was playing that bad. She just was hitting her shots and going for it, serving big, serving high percentage, going big second serves, redirecting the ball. It was just her day, I honestly think."

This is the third Grand Slam tournament in a row that Pegula failed to reach the quarterfinals. After she lost in the fourth round at the French Open, she received a handful of death threats from angry gamblers on social media.

"These betters are insane and delusional and I don't allow dms and try to remember when to shut my comments off during tournament weeks but they always find a way to my timeline," Pegula wrote. "This stuff has never really bothered me much but does any other sport deal with this to our level? I'd love to know because it seems to be predominately tennis?? It's so disturbing."

Pegula added, "Every person on tour deals with it. It's so bad. Those are just really small snippets. I get told my family should get cancer and die from people on here on a regular basis. Absolutely crazy."

Even though Pegula has limited comments on Instagram, fans are worried she'll receive more nasty messages in the coming days.

"I feel for Pegula! She comes from playing one of her best tennis to find a very determined player that fought every point," one fan said.

"She’s been upset very early, a few times in the last few tournaments. It seems to happen when Jessica Pegula can’t seem to focus, because of family issues. I hope and pray everyone is ok in the Pegula family," another person wrote.

"I feel so bad for these athletes like Pegula having to take this sort of abuse on social media," a third person commented.

We're certainly hoping people leave Pegula alone. There's no place in sports for disgraceful behavior.

Pegula will regroup and try to make a run at the US Open later this summer. She made it to the final last year before losing to Aryna Sabalenka.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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