Jessica Pegula admits she has been drawing inspiration from Damar Hamlin’s remarkable recovery story and revealed that the Buffalo Bills safety has been texting her following her Australian Open wins. Pegula, whose family owns the Bills, is absolutely thrilled to see Hamlin making a remarkable recovery in his recovery from a cardiac arrest.
“He’s recovered so quickly and so fast that it’s just taken a lot of weight off of the teams, the players, the sport, other players. It’s just been a really amazing story. Any time I can kind of ride that amazing kind of story and feeling, I think it’s good to try to take that with you into your matches,” Pegula said, per the WTA website.
Pegula: Hamlin has been texting me after some of my wins
“Definitely some part of it has inspired me a lot. It’s cool. He’s wrote me a few times as well after I’ve won here. It’s just amazing. I think it just shows you that people’s lives are at stake,” Pegula revealed.
In early January, Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed on the field. The game was suspended and never resumed. After Hamlin collapsed in a scary scene, the whole NFL community gathered to show support and prayers to Hamlin.
Now, Pegula says some things are definitely bigger than sport. “It’s so much bigger than sport. Sometimes we lose sight of that. Sometimes it’s not a tennis match. At the same time that can help you kind of play free and not get so stressed I think.
I definitely have carried some of it with me, for sure,” Pegula explained. Meanwhile, Pegula has been absolutely great in Australia at the start of the 2023 season. After helping the United States win the United Cup, Pegula has also been through to the Australian Open round-of-16.
On Friday, Pegula saw off Marta Kostyuk 6-0 6-2 to set up an Australian Open round-of-16 meeting against Barbora Krejcikova.
