The Player’s Box Podcast Highlights
In a recent episode of their popular podcast, The Player’s Box, featuring American tennis players Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Jennifer Brady, and Desirae Krawczyk, Pegula shared a humorous travel experience that followed her disappointing loss at the 2025 China Open.
Travel Mishap After the China Open
Pegula, who has a close rapport with her podcast co-hosts, recounted a rather costly blunder during her journey from Beijing to Wuhan. After a heartbreaking defeat to Czech player Linda Noskova in the semifinals, where Pegula had three match points but lost in a nail-biting tiebreak, she found herself in a baffling situation when booking her train travel.
An unfortunate mix-up led her to reserve a train that prolonged her journey by an additional hour and thirty-six minutes. Struggling with the local language barriers, Pegula was unable to resolve the issue without incurring significant charges.
“So I had to rebook that one to the shorter one, which is only four hours. It was quite a panic situation as I was doing it the morning of the trip. I was using WhatsApp for customer service, and they were trying to assist me.”
Despite her best efforts to minimize the costs, Pegula ended up paying an extra $140 due to the rebooking. She explained,
“They informed me that to avoid any additional charges, I would need to visit the train station’s desk in person. As we know, that wasn’t likely to happen because no one spoke English there, which could have turned disastrous.”
A Surprising Customer Service Interaction
To add to her frustrations, Pegula received a message from customer service that took her by surprise. Assuming she was interacting with AI, she was startled by a playful comment from a representative stating,
“Now that’s the power of financial freedom!”
After interpreting this as a light-hearted poke at her misfortune, she replied, “Got to do what you got to do, lol,” unsure if she was speaking to a bot or a real person.
Finding Humor in the Situation
Though the travel hiccup was vexing, Pegula was able to find a silver lining of amusement in the interaction, providing a moment of levity following her tough match. In contrast, fellow American player Coco Gauff seemed to navigate her own travel plans smoothly for the upcoming Wuhan Open, expressing contentment with her serving performance in Beijing.
