Jessica Pegula’s brilliantly mocks herself after going through Iga Swiatek’s ‘bakery factory’

WTA Tour
Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula WTA Finals trophies

It is not easy being on the receiving end of a bagel or drumstick in tennis, but Jessica Pegula made light of her WTA Finals defeat to the brilliant Iga Swiatek.

Pegula managed to win only one game during the 59-minute final against Swiatek in Cancun on Monday as the Pole won 6-1, 6-0 to secure her first-ever WTA Finals trophy with the victory also helping her to claim the year-end No 1 ranking ahead of Aryna Sabalenka.

The American was not the only player to be handed a bagel (6-0 scoreline) or a breadstick (6-1 scoreline) by the four-time Grand Slam winner in Mexico as Marketa Vondrousva, Coco Gauff and Ons Jabeur also went through “Iga’s bakery factory”.

In fact, Swiatek has won 22 sets 6-0 in 2023 to go with the 22 she also dished out last year as she became the first player to register 20 or more bagels in back-to-back seasons since Steffi Graf and Monica Seles in 1991-92.

Pegula, who enjoyed a stellar WTA Finals despite her slump in the showpiece match, managed to see the lighter side of her defeat after winding down with a drink.

The world No 5 took to Instagram to joke: “Ended the year through the Iga bakery factory lol.”

She added: “Jokes aside. 2023 in the books 🙌”

Jessica Pegula
Instagram Story from Jessica Pegula

And the 2023 season has been “one for the books” for Pegula as she finished with two titles – including a second WTA 1000 trophy at the Canadian Open – and also reached the quarter-final of the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

After the final Pegula praised Swiatek for bouncing back after being written off following her slump at the US Open.

“She’s been, in my mind, the one to beat the last couple of years,” she said. “She’s showing that even when she loses some matches or doesn’t win the tournament, that she’s still bouncing right back and is playing at a high level every single week.

“That’s what a top player does, what a champion does, and I think she showed that.”

Swiatek, meanwhile, notched up several other crazy feats as she became the first player under 23 to win 65 or more matches in back-to-back seasons since Martina Hingis accomplished it from 1997-2000.

The Pole also joined Petra Kvitova (2011) and Serena Williams (2013) as the only players to win a title at every WTA level in the same season since the new format was introduced. Swiatake won one WTA 250 event (Warsaw), two WTA 500 titles (Doha and Stuttgart), one WTA 1000 trophy (Beijing), one Grand Slam (the French Open) and the WTA Finals in Cancun.

READ MORE: Jessica Pegula dunks on paywalled potshots in fabulous Twitter volley

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