CNN
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Jessica Pegula, the daughter of the homeowners of the Buffalo Payments, says Damar Hamlin’s unimaginable restoration has impressed her performances throughout this 12 months’s Australian Open.
Pegula certified for the final 16 with a straight units victory in opposition to Marta Kostyuk on Friday and can face both Victoria Azarenka or Zhu Lin for a spot within the semifinals.
“He’s [Hamlin] recovered so rapidly and so quick that it’s simply taken a variety of weight off of the groups, the gamers, the game, different gamers,” Pegula mentioned, per WTA.
“Any time I can sort of journey that incredible sort of story and feeling, I believe it’s good to attempt to take that with you into your matches.”
The world No. 3 has worn Hamlin’s quantity three on her shorts throughout the event and mentioned she’s been in touch with the 24-year-old since his collapse.
Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest throughout a sport in opposition to the Cincinnati Bengals on January 2, was discharged from hospital after greater than every week however nonetheless faces a prolonged restoration.
Hamlin’s longtime good friend and enterprise companion Jordon Rooney instructed CNN that the Payments security nonetheless requires oxygen and is having his coronary heart monitored repeatedly.
“He has visited with the workforce a number of instances however he nonetheless will get winded very simply. He’s upbeat and optimistic and able to proceed to beat this,” Rooney mentioned.
The Payments are set to play the Bengals once more on Sunday, this time within the divisional spherical for a spot within the AFC Championship sport at stake.
However for Pegula, who has by no means reached the semifinals on the Australian Open, the episode has given her a brand new perspective on the game that has grow to be her life.
“Undoubtedly some a part of it has impressed me loads,” Pegula mentioned. “It’s cool. He’s wrote me a number of instances as properly after I’ve received right here. It’s simply superb. I believe it simply reveals you that individuals’s lives are at stake.”
She added: “It’s a lot larger than sport.
“Generally we lose sight of that. Generally it’s not a tennis match. On the identical time that may make it easier to sort of play free and never get so confused I believe.
“I undoubtedly have carried a few of it with me, for certain.”
