Jessica Pegula bemoans bad luck after getting food poisoning from first Paris dinner

Jessica Pegula feels that she has missed out on the full Paris experience after coming down with an illness shortly after arriving in the city.
Pegula said that she was still feeling the effects of the food poisoning suffered from her first Paris dinner when she kicked off her French Open campaign against Danielle Collins.
She said that she managed to get through the match despite feeling ill throughout.
“Coming into this week’s French Open, my preparations were completely thrown by getting food poisoning on my first night and first dinner in Paris,” Pegula wrote in a column for BBC Sport.
“What horrendous luck – I haven’t gone out to a restaurant since because I’ve been too afraid to eat there.
“I don’t know exactly what did the damage. I had escargots – I love escargots – but everyone else in my group had them. I also had salmon so maybe it was a bad piece of fish.
“I was throwing up for the whole night and I couldn’t sleep much.
“That was after I arrived in Paris on Tuesday, I didn’t practise on Wednesday, I practised on Thursday – but it was not pretty. I could barely do anything.
“I was getting a lot of nausea and acid reflux, I wasn’t eating. I was afraid to eat anything. I didn’t have an appetite.
“It lingered for four or five days but I wasn’t able to just sit in bed, I had a bunch of stuff to do.
“Whatever I had scheduled, like the media day for example, I needed to get through it as quickly as possible. I was like, ‘Sorry I’m not in a good mood but I need to get through it’ .
“I was a zombie for two days.
“I still practised because I wanted to hit and get a feel, but I wasn’t pushing myself too hard. I didn’t want to be totally running myself down when my immune system was shot.
“On Friday I was thinking, ‘I’m supposed to be playing on Sunday and how am I going to play? I feel horrible and I’ve practised once’.
“Also, going into the first round of a Grand Slam you have nerves anyway and feel a little uneasy.
“The good thing was I felt I was playing OK, but just not feeling physically good. Still, I didn’t feel happy or prepared.
She added: “I had to try and turn it into a positive, which was by really focusing on me. I was like, ‘right I need to get through this match’ because I knew I had two days off after to recover.
“That was my motivation: to walk in, get through, be super focused and hope for the best. Actually I played a decent match against Danielle [Collins], who is someone I know well and is a great player.
“Luckily I came around by the weekend, caught up on sleep and got some good practice in. Now I’m feeling a lot better and ready to go.”
READ MORE: How Jessica Pegula beats the grind of the WTA Tour
Latest
-
Tennis Features
Six ways clay courts are superior to hard courts
Clay courts often get a bad rap with the odd player gripe repeated endlessly in the media, but the surface has a number of big upsides.
-
Tennis News
WATCH: Intense Felix Auger-Aliassime brushes off Laver Cup spat with Gael Monfils
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gael Monfils shared some heated moments after the Canadian complained to the umpire during their Laver Cup clash.
-
ATP Tour
More questions for Andy Murray to answer after another agonising defeat
Andy Murray blew an early lead as he crashed to defeat against Aslan Karatsev in the last 16.
-
Tennis News
Roger Federer reveals what he misses about tennis as Rafael Nadal surprises him
Speaking in an interview with former world No 1 Jim Courier at the Laver Cup, the 20-time Grand Slam champion reflected on how his life chan
-
US Open
Top coach spotted Coco Gauff’s potential very early on
Patrick Mouratoglou has revealed that Coco Gauff left a big impression on him during their first meeting.
-
Tennis News
British star set for rankings breakthrough after a decade on the ATP Tour
Liam Broady set to break into the top 100 of the ATP rankings for the first time.
-
Tennis News
Guadalajara proves a balm for Maria Sakkari’s suffering once again
Maria Sakkari feels that the bond between herself and Guadalajara has grown closer after another deep run in the Mexican city.
-
Tennis News
Novak Djokovic hits raw nerve with tennis chiefs after latest controversial comments
Djokovic has made some radical proposals that would ensure the huge amounts of cash being generated by gambling goes to tennis players.
-
Tennis News
Ben Shelton salutes the three players who have taken him under their wing
Ben Shelton has paid homage to the brotherhood of the top American men in the game.
-
Tennis News
Can Cameron Norrie still reach the ATP Tour finals powered by strong Asian swing?
Cameron Norrie is out to reach the ATP Tour finals this term.