Jessica Pegula was handed a setback ahead of the Australian Open after the Buffalo Bills suffered a heartbreaking playoff defeat.
Pegula is the current world number six on the WTA Tour, who is playing at the Australian Open in both singles and doubles this year.
As well as being one of the best tennis players in the world, Pegula is also the daughter of Terry Pegula, who is the owner of NFL team the Buffalo Bills.
However, it was a tough day to be a supporter of the Buffalo Bills over the weekend, as they suffered a heartbreaking overtime playoff defeat to Denver Broncos.
Jessica Pegula says how she felt after the Buffalo Bills suffered playoff defeat
The Buffalo Bills recovered a deficit to force the match against the Denver Broncos to overtime, before they were devastatingly beaten 33-30.
After winning her first round match at the Australian Open against Anastasia Zakharova, Pegula was asked about the Buffalo Bills’ loss in her post-match press conference.
When assessing the defeat, Pegula described it as ‘like a stab in the heart’, “Yeah, yesterday sucked, not going to lie. I was not happy. Not a happy camper.
“Tough game. Tough loss. How we lost was also — you know, it just was like a stab in the heart kind of situation. It just wasn’t fun, yeah.”
Jessica Pegula reveals if the Buffalo Bills impact her tennis
While this was heartbreaking for the Buffalo Bills, it was the fourth time they had lost at this stage in the past five seasons.
When asked further about her NFL team, Pegula was questioned over whether she enables the Buffalo Bills’ results to impact her tennis.
Pegula revealed that she was actually practicing at the time the match was taking place, and while she does not let it affect her, she admitted that it does sometimes fire her up if the Buffalo Bills lose.
“I was actually practicing from 11:00 to 12:00, so actually I practiced with an earbud in and had the stream on my phone so I could just at least hear what was going on, because it was pretty much to the end right before we went into the overtime,” said Pegula. “Then the game pretty much ended. It was an important part of the game.
“I don’t know why my coach booked practice that time. That was his fault, but it was the only time we could get a court.
“Yeah, I mean, it doesn’t affect me when I’m out there on court, but you do get, like, a little fired up, because you’re, like, upset about the loss, maybe some of the calls, how we played. Then you see the Broncos’ quarterback is out for the rest of the season for sure getting surgery, and you are, like, oh, my gosh, that could have been us.
“There’s a lot of emotions I think that run hot, especially with my family when we’re texting and calling each other and stuff like that. When it comes match day, you kind of forget about all that. I have other things to kind of focus on.”
Pegula certainly appeared to be fired up for her first round match at the Australian Open against Zakharova, where she lost just three games.
The 31-year-old will now build up to her second round, where Pegula will play fellow American McCartney Kessler.
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