Jessica Pegula spoke about her experience with a doping test during the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The tournament took place in Shenzhen, China, from September 16 to September 21, 2025.
Pegula most recently competed at the 2025 Wuhan Open, where she reached the final and finished as the runner-up after losing to compatriot Coco Gauff with a scoreline of 4-6, 5-7.
What Did Jessica Pegula Say About Her Doping Test Experience at the 2025 Billie Jean King Cup Finals?
During the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Team USA defeated Team Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals and overcame Team Great Britain in the semifinals, advancing to the finals. There, they faced the defending champions, Team Italy, ultimately finishing as the runner-up after a 0-2 loss.
While speaking on a recent episode of “The Player’s Box” podcast, Pegula shared that she was subjected to random drug testing shortly after the tournament’s opening ceremony. She was informed about the test just before her singles match against Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals against Kazakhstan.
“I left the ceremony and then went to warm up because Emma Navarro was playing the first match ahead of me. So, I ended up going right after the ceremony, and about 45 minutes later, when I was walking off the practice court for my warm-up, this lady is like, “You have to do drug testing,”” Pegula said.
The former World No. 3 mentioned that her match was scheduled immediately after Emma Navarro’s singles match against Yulia Putintseva, leaving her with limited time to prepare for her match and complete the drug testing.
“It was after the first set was over in Emma’s match and I was like, “But I don’t understand. Like I have to go play a match. I could be on in like 30 minutes. I have to go change, I have to get ready,” she continued.
Pegula admitted that she got into an argument with the chaperone responsible for the drug testing due to the time constraints and the short notice she was given. She had to provide a urine sample for the test.
“So then he came to talk to me and they’re like, “No.” So basically, this was wild. I had to go give a urine sample. So if I went to the bathroom, that had to be my urine sample before my match but if I went to play my match and had to go to the bathroom during the match, they don’t take that as a urine sample,” she said.
Pegula pointed out that the drug-testing rules for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals differ from what she is used to, which added to her confusion and fluster during the time crunch.
“So, it was just like this wild set of rules, and I didn’t really understand it. I was like, ‘It’s fine. I will go, but why didn’t you ask me an hour ago when like I could be on in 30 minutes?’ ” Pegula added.
Looking ahead, Pegula is expected to compete next at the 2025 Toray Pan Pacific Open, which is scheduled for October 20 to October 26, 2025. The matches will take place at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo, Japan.
The former World No. 3’s best result at this tournament came in 2023 when she defeated Cristina Bucșa, Daria Kasatkina, and Maria Sakkari to reach the final. There, she faced Veronika Kudermetova and finished as the runner-up after losing 5-7, 1-6.