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Stephen Curry had a fun 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 U.S. Open on Sept. 7, following her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the women's singles final. Pegula recalled that before the match began, she and her husband had the chance to talk to Curry, marking the second time they had met him.
“Talking to Steph was great,” she said. “I met him briefly at the Olympics, during the opening ceremony, and we exchanged badges. It was great that he came out, I guess he really wants to continue supporting women’s sports.”
After noting that he had the chance to meet Curry's wife, Ayesha Curry, before the game, he shared the “funny story” about Gahagen's admiration for the athlete.
“My husband’s iPhone is named Steph Curry. He loves Steph Curry,” she explained. “So if you connect to Bluetooth or Airdrop something to him, it’s Steph Curry’s iPhone.”
He added that when he left the conversation to go to the game, Gahagen told Curry what a big fan he was and revealed the funny name of 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 didn’t tell him about the iPhone,’” Pegula explained. “And he was like, ‘Yes, I did.’”
“So I thought that was really cute,” the tennis star continued with a laugh. “And he was like, 'No, [Curry] I loved it. And I said, “Did he? Or did he really think you were a little crazy?”
However, Pegula acknowledged that Curry thought the name on her husband's phone was “pretty funny” as the NBA star wanted Gahagen to show it to Ayesha Curry.
“It was a cool moment for him because he's a die-hard Steph Curry fan,” he added. “I think [he] I actually first saw him at an NCAA tournament in Buffalo. That's why he always says he's an OG. [original] Fan, that was really cool.”
On 7 September, Sabalenka won her first US Open title after beating home favourite Pegula 7-5, 7-5. It is her second Grand Slam title of the year (after her win in Australia) and her third overall.
There were some tense moments during the match on Saturday, particularly when Pegula, playing in her first Grand Slam final, came back from 3-0 down to go 5-3 up in the second set. Pegula served to take the match to a third set, but once again Sabalenka was able to reverse Pegula's momentum.
It's been a big weekend for Americans at the US Open, with home-grown players making it into both the men's and women's singles finals for the first time since 2002. Today, Sunday, September 8, Taylor Fritz will face world number one Jannik Sinner for a chance at his first Grand Slam title.
