‘Chris Evert Has a Problem With Jessica(Pegula)?’- US Open Fans Accuse American Legend of Blatant Iga Swiatek Bias

Just another day in the office! Is it a good day or a bad one for Chris Evert? We all know that this tennis legend has been heavily criticized over the last few years for her commentary. She was previously accused of being a bit too “biased” towards Coco Gauff. And now, as things stand, tennis fans feel that she has been biased towards Iga Swiatek in the QF match against Jessica Pegula.
Jessica Pegula has already won the first set, and she has now grabbed the second as well. Pegula defeated Swiatek by 6-2,6-4. History has been created on the iconic Arthur Ashe tonight. What a moment for JP! Yet it’s Evert who is currently taking away all the limelight with her controversial commentaries during the match.
Shortly after securing the SF spot, we heard Pegula say, “There have been so many freaking times, and I just kept losing. I know everyone keeps asking me about it, but I was like, ‘I don’t know what else to do. I just need to get there again and, like, win the match.’ So thank God I was able to do it. And finally — finally! — I can say, ‘Semifinalist.‘”Clearly, she was there to make a statement right from the word ‘go’ in this match. On the other hand, Swiatek was seen struggling a bit with her serves right from the first set. Even her forehand was a major problem in this match.
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22 out of the 41 unforced errors came on that side! We saw how Swiatek ran through a series of emotions during the match. On one instance, she even smacked her racquet against the top of the net and even slapped her right thigh after a forehand went wide. Unusual scenes, especially when it’s related to a calm and composed character like Swiatek! With this victory, Jessica Pegula has now become the fourth American in the Open Era to reach the women’s singles SF at the Canadian, Cincinnati, and US Open in a calendar year. Even after showcasing such a dominating performance in the QF, fans were literary a bit annoyed with the way Evert commentated in this match.
What’s your reaction? Is Chris Evert showing blatant bias against Jessica Pegula? React! Reactions
Fans aren’t pleased with Chris Evert’s commentary in Jessica Pegula’s match against Iga Swiatek
This isn’t the first time that Evert has been facing a backlash from the fans for her commentary. It happened multiple times in the last few months. For example last year, Chris Evert faced a major backlash for her comments during Swiatek’s match against Pegula at the WTA Finals. The Polish tennis star defeated the American quite comfortably by 6-1,6-0 but still, Evert believed Pegula displayed a great performance. Fans literally laughed at her when she went on to say that JP might win the Wimbledon in 2024!
However, this time, she was being criticized for being “biased” toward Iga Swiatek. Two different situations in two different tournaments but controversies still keep on chasing this tennis legend. One of the fans wrote, “#USOpen2024 I am beginning to think Chris Evert has a problem with Jessica?? Come on and give the girl something chrissy.“
Just a few weeks ago, Evert made an assessment saying that since Coco Gauff is out of the 2024 US Open, Iga Swiatek has a good chance of winning the title this year. Even this statement raised a few eyebrows in the tennis world. Another fan highlighted, “@usopen it looks like Chris Evert is rooting for Iga more than Pagula, she hardly ever compliments the US player. SMH. All Chris Evert talks about is how Iga is not doing well.”
In the R3 match, fans claimed that she praised Coco Gauff time and again but she didn’t say much about Elina Svitolina in that match. Although the Ukrainian lost that match by 6-3,3-6,3-6, she gave a tough fight to the defending champ. Now after this recent incident during Jessica Pegula’s match, some of them claim, “Chris Evert is a hater. She is all but refusing to give Pegula credit.”
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During the 2023 US Open, where Coco Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the finals, she said Sabalenka played “the best she could, maybe a couple of errors, she played a very high-quality match.” Even at that time, fans were a bit confused with the statement because Sabalenka had made quite a few errors in that match. After hearing her commentary at the QF of the 2024 US Open another fan asked, “Is there not a responsibility to show some level of fairness commentating at this level? If so, can someone tell Chris Evert what BIASED means???”
She has also been accused of mispronouncing Zheng Qinwen’s name on several occasions. There have been many such incidents during this year’s US Open which has made Evert a controversial figure when it comes to her commentary. However, putting up a few excuses to back Swiatek’s poor performance against Jessica Pegula was heavily criticized by the fans. “Chris Evert said Iga might be having a problem with the court speed. Then the excuse of the Olympic. So Chris is making excuses for Iga if she loses. Stop with excuses she has been playing in NY for week & half,” wrote a few.
Iga Swiatek has already won 5 titles this season and she has been in tremendous form this year. Outclassing her in any match is quite similar to a mammoth task. Pegula did quite well to put the world number one into some real trouble in this match. Some of the fans reminded her, “Evert making every possible excuse for swiatek. Hey chris, she is the #1 seed!#chris every.”
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The 30-year-old tennis star from Buffalo, NY is currently ranked 6th in the world. She is currently the second-highest-ranked American in the women’s singles event. Pegula has already won two titles in 2024. Fans call for some respect towards Jessica Pegula, “@espn Chris Evert hating on Jess Pegula is getting old…give the girl some credit good lord.”
Previously a controversy erupted during her commentary in Naomi Osaka’s match. Even her take on Karlina Muchova saying that, “She plays like a guy,” faced a major backlash. Now, her comments on this QF match and coming up with multiple excuses for Swiatek have annoyed some of the fans. One of them highlighted her comment saying, “Chris Evert: ‘This court is playing too fast for Iga’. @OpenCourt, your thoughts? We discussed this last night.” What are your thoughts on these comments, though?