"He's recovered amazing, awesome to see" - Jessica Pegula wears 'No. 3 patch' in honor of Damar Hamlin at Australian Open
World No. 3 Jessica Pegula has sported a No. 3 patch on her skirt in both her matches so far at the 2023 Australian Open. This is to show support for Buffalo Bills' star Damar Hamlin, who is recovering after suffering a cardiac arrest in an NFL game earlier this month.
After her first-round win against Jaqueline Cristian, Pegula signed the camera with a message of support for the Bills, a team co-owned by her parents Terry and Kim. The message also showed support for Hamlin. She wore the No. 3 patch again on Wednesday, during a 6-2, 7-6(5) win against Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the second round.
When asked about the patch, the Buffalo native first thanked a fan in the stands who was excitedly waving a Buffalo Bills flag. Pegula also said that she is trying to bridge the gap between Australia and Buffalo, N.Y., before going on to express her gratitude for Hamlin's recovery, who wears the No. 3 jersey for the Bills.
"One of the football players obviously had a really tragic accident," Jessica Pegula said in her on-court interview on Wednesday.
"Just trying to show some support and bridge Australia and Buffalo, New York, which is very strange, but kinda bridge those two worlds together. He's recovered amazing so it's been awesome to see."
Sending love to Damar Hamlin ❤️
@JLPegula • @BuffaloBills • #AusOpen • #AO2023 https://t.co/xvEHyXLS2K
After her first-round win against Cristian, Pegula even took to social media to highlight her special Damar Hamlin tribute.
Just happy to be here. peep the #3 @BuffaloBills @AustralianOpen https://t.co/psuZQVKAP2
Hamlin has shown good signs of recovery so far, but there is still a way to go before he can return to NFL action.
"I felt like it was a global event" - Jessica Pegula on her No. 3 tribute at Australian Open
Jessica Pegula shed more light on her tribute to Damar Hamlin, explaining how the No. 3 has become an icon for expressing support for the Bills' star in light of his incident. The 28-year-old stated that, during the United Cup, she was unable to show her support through her on-court attire or in a similar form, but she was very keen on doing so at the Australian Open.
"Well, I definitely wanted to do something on my outfit," Jessica Pegula said in her post-match press conference after beating Sasnovich. "I was in Sydney when it happened so I didn't have time to do it there, but definitely for Australia."
Pegula further opened up on her desire to show her support for Hamlin and also connect with the Buffalo Bills team and their fans after what has become a "global event." Having thought of ways to do so, she came up with the idea for the No. 3 patch to wear at the Australian Open.
"I just thought it would be cool to put on my outfit here," Pegula continued. "I thought it would be a fun way to kind of connect with the team and then also just show my support. I felt like it was such, felt like it was a global event. A lot of people were asking me about it even here."
The American No. 1 also talked about coming across many people who were uninitiated with the incident involving Hamlin. She admitted how some people were confused as to why she would show off her WTA ranking of World No. 3 during matches.
"Ironically I am No. 3 as well. But that's not why. I think I saw someone tweet that. Why would you put your ranking on your skirt? I'm, like, No, that's not why," Pegula added with laughter.