Jessica Pegula has an answer to Zheng Qinwen's 'hilarious' question on "Player's Box" podcast

Recently-crowned Dubai champion Jessica Pegula and her "Players Box" podcast co-hosts Madison Keys, Desirae Krawczyk and Jennifer Brady have been finding streaming success since the show's launch during the US Open last summer. But Pegula's promise for the show to "have more gas" delivered this week with the "hilarious" appearance of 2024 Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, according to the American herself.

"Des and I, after she left, we were like this is going to be so funny," Pegula said following Zheng's surprise cameo, where she popped on screen for a 'fit check and had some good-natured ribbing for her team for not liking spicy food.

But Zheng's "perfect" appearance also came with a some teasing at Pegula's expense. As the trio chowed down on Dubai chocolate, they joked about how Pegula, the daughter of billionaire businessman and sports owner Terry Pegula, is known by the nickname "Dafu" on Chinese-language social media channels, which translates to "Big Rich."

"In China, some people wonder why such a rich girl got into tennis," Zheng says, as the trio laughs. "They say that because it's an extremely demanding sport. Like: 'Why not just live a high-society life?'"

After beating Elina Svitolina in straight sets on Saturday to win her 10th career singles title, Pegula had an answer.

Read more: Jessica Pegula aims to expand “Player’s Box" podcast

"It's something I've loved to do since I was a kid, since before I had anything about my family or money or the teams or stuff like that," she said.

"I wanted to be No. 1 in the world when I was, like, six years old. It's been my dream for as long as I can remember to be No. 1, to be able to play on tour, to be able to win slams.

"It's pretty cool that I can look back and say that I'm putting myself in contention to do that, living out my dream."

And while Victoria Azarenka proclaimed in the comments of the clip, which has already racked up more than 150,000 views, that the "Players Box" is serving up "the best content in tennis," Pegula had one more thing she wanted to clarify.

"We did film that, like, several days before the tournament started, by the way," she quipped. "I wasn't eating a bunch of chocolate last night. I hope people realize that."