WTA apologises for broadcasting Pegula's private conversation
The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has apologised after a private conversation involving American star Jessica Pegula was broadcast live. WTA chief Valerie Camillo issued the apology at a news conference on Friday.
Pegula's conversation with her coach Mark Knowles on a practice court at Indian Wells in California was broadcast on a WTA YouTube livestream of the session. A courtside microphone picked up the exchange.
World number four Pegula can be heard in the conversation describing 19-year-old Russian rival Mirra Andreeva as a "diva". She also criticised Andreeva's coach, former Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez, for not addressing Andreeva's behaviour.
Speaking before Sunday's opening matches of the WTA Finals, Camillo blamed the incident on "several breakdowns in our execution of the livestream given our own policies and procedures".
"I want to apologise on behalf of the entire WTA for these occurrences," Camillo said.
She said the WTA is sensitive to player privacy and has policies and procedures in place to balance players' needs for safe spaces with opportunities to bring fans closer to the game. But there was a lack of advanced notice and clear signage to assist players about the recording equipment operating in the area.
Camillo confirmed that all audio recording equipment in practice areas had since been removed.
She said microphones had been installed on practice courts to pick up "ambient sound" — such as the noise of balls being struck — rather than conversations between players and coaches. "So clearly there was a failure in our technical execution and monitoring," Camillo said.
She then directly apologised to Pegula and Knowles. "I want to specifically apologise to Jessica Pegula and Mark Knowles," she added.
"What happened was regrettable and unacceptable. Jess is one of the WTA's best advocates and biggest stars. She does not deserve this distraction," Camillo said.
The WTA Finals begin on Sunday, with the top eight women's singles players divided into two round-robin groups of four before advancing to the knockout rounds.
