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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
Stephen Curry had a hilarious interaction with one of his biggest fans: Jessica Pegula’s husband, Taylor Gahagen.
The 30-year-old American tennis player shared a sweet story about Curry during a press conference at the US Open on September 7, after her loss against Aryna Sabalenka in the Women’s Singles Final. Pegula recalled that before the match started she and her husband had the chance to talk to Curry, which marked her second time meeting him.
“Being able to talk to Steph, that was really cool,” she said. “I met him kind of briefly at the Olympics, during the open ceremony, and we traded pins. It was cool for him to come out, I guess he really wants to keep supporting women’s sports.”
After noting that she had the chance to meet Curry’s wife – Ayesha Curry – before the match, she shared the “funny story” about Gahagen’s admiration for the athlete.
“My husband, his iPhone name is Steph Curry. He loves Steph Curry,” she explained. “So like, if you connect to Bluetooth or like send him something on Airdrop, it’s Steph Curry’s iPhone.”
She added that when she left the conversation for the game, Gahagen told Curry how big of a fan he was, and revealed the hilarious name for his iPhone.
“He texted me and he was so excited, he didn’t want to say anything, and I was like, ‘Please tell me you did not tell him about the iPhone thing,’” Pegula explained. “And he was like, ‘Oh yeah, I did.’”
“So I thought that was really cute,” the tennis star continued with a laugh. “And he’s like, ‘No, [Curry] loved it.’ And I was like, ‘Did he? Or did he really think you were kind of crazy?’”
However, Pegula acknowledged that Curry thought her husband’s phone name was “pretty funny,” since the NBA star wanted Gahagen to show it to Ayesha Curry.
“That was kind of a cool moment for him because he’s like a die-hard Steph Curry fan,” she added. “I think [he] actually first watched him at an NCAA tournament in Buffalo. So he always says he’s an OG [original] fan, so that was really cool.”
On September 7, Sabalenka won her first US Open title after beating home favorite Pegula, winning 7-5 7-5. It is her second grand slam title of the year – following victory in Australia – and third one in total.
There were some tense moments during the match on Saturday, particularly as Pegula, who was playing in her first grand slam final, fought back from 3-0 down to lead 5-3 in the second set. Pegula served to take the match into a third set but, once again, Sabalenka managed to overturn Pegula’s momentum.
This has been a big weekend for the Americans at the US Open, with home players in the finals of both the women’s and men’s singles for the first time since 2002. Today, Sunday, September 8, Taylor Fritz will face World No 1 Jannik Sinner for a shot at his first grand slam title.
