Jessica Pegula’s choice of beverage during her post-match press conference has once again captured attention, this time after her straight-sets loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open semifinals on Thursday. The No. 3 seed, a daughter of Buffalo Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula, was observed with a cup of decaf espresso.
When asked if she was drinking tequila, Pegula responded with a smile, "No, I wish. Nobody offered to bring any. It’s coffee this year. Yeah, it’s just another night. Another loss and another trying to go to the bathroom." She explained that the drink was for doping control, as she was attempting to provide a urine sample.
This post-match beverage ritual has become a recurring theme for Pegula. In 2022, she went viral for drinking a Heineken after a quarterfinal loss. The following year, during the Miami Open, she humorously took a tequila cocktail from Aryna Sabalenka's hand during a post-match interview after Sabalenka had defeated her in the final.
Pegula's match against Sabalenka saw her fall 7-5, 6-2. The first set was competitive, with the score tied at 4-4 before Sabalenka pulled ahead. In the second set, Sabalenka maintained a high level of play, which Pegula acknowledged.
"I’m honestly not that upset, to be honest, because I don’t really think there was much I could have done today," Pegula stated after the match. "That was pretty much our attitude after the match, because like I said, she played an insanely high level, I think probably one of her better matches this year, for sure."
Pegula, a native of Upstate New York, competed in the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows. Her opponent, Sabalenka, advanced to the final following their semifinal encounter.