PICTURE: Jessica Pegula hilariously celebrates reaching Cincinnati Open QF by eating her dinner in the bath tub
Jessica Pegula won back-to-back matches on the same day at the 2024 Cincinnati Open to qualify for the quarterfinals. Following the tiresome day, the American player had dinner while taking a cold bath.
Fifth seed Pegula received a bye in the first round of the WTA 1000 event. Her second-round match was delayed to Friday, August 16, due to rain and the American was forced to pull a double shift.
She was up against last year's runner-up Karolina Muchova early in the day and faced a tough test as she lost the opening set. However, the 30-year-old made a fine comeback into the match to advance to the last eight with a score of 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Hours after her win, Pegula was pitted against compatriot Taylor Townsend in the third round. She comfortably got the better of the World No. 51 with a 6-2, 6-3 win.
After a tiring double shift, Jessica Pegula took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a picture of her having dinner in the bathtub. She captioned the post:
"It was an eat your dinner in the cold tub kinda day @CincyTennis."
With the two wins, the World No. 5, who recently bagged the Canadian Open title, increased her winning streak to seven.
Jessica Pegula will face Leylah Fernandez in the Cincinnati Open 2024 QF
Jessica Pegula will take on Canadian Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinal of the 2024 Cincinnati Open. This will be the second encounter between the pair. Pegula won their first and only clash in Miami a few months ago.
The 30-year-old American suffered from injuries early on in the season which forced her to be inconsistent on tour with her schedule. However, with multiple tournaments under her belt at a stretch in the past few weeks, she feels her match toughness has gone up.
"The match toughness has definitely gone up another level these last couple of weeks. It's great for me. I'm not even that upset that I had to play two matches. I feel like for next week, going into the Open it will help my match fitness as well," Jessica Pegula said (via WTA).
Following disappointing early exits in the singles and doubles event at the Paris Olympics, Pegula began her North American hardcourt swing at the Canadian Open last week. She put up an impressive show to win her third WTA 1000 title.
In Cincinnati, the winner of the quarterfinal between Pegula and Fernandez will set up a semifinal clash against the winner of the quarterfinal between Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Paula Badosa.