Wimbledon: Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula Surprisingly Ditched for Male Counterparts Tommy Paul & Ben Shelton by Ex-Finalist

The manicured lawns of Wimbledon are calling, and tennis fever is in the air! With the Grand Slam just a week away, players are sharpening their volleys and perfecting their serves. Pundits are buzzing with predictions, all vying to crown the next champion. But amidst the usual suspects, a surprising voice has emerged: Canadian Eugenie Bouchard. She has stirred the pot with her unconventional pick for the tournament.

Sharing the mic with tennis legend Andy Roddick on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, she dove headfirst into Wimbledon fever. Bouchard championed the prestigious Grand Slam, even declaring it her preference over the upcoming Olympics, highlighting the unmatched glory of winning a Slam title. But just as she settled into her passionate argument, the podcast host threw a curveball – a “hard” question that promised to challenge her views. “…If an American player would make it to Olympics final or better Wimbledon this year, it is likely to be on from the men’s side or women’s side, Genie?” asked Steve.

“This was a really hard question that I had to think about. I’m gonna go with the men because we just have higher number of men up there.” Continuing further, she highlighted the spots of Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Ben Shelton, who are placed at 12, 13, and 14 respectively, in the ATP rankings. “There’s like, what is it in the rankings? 12, 13, 14, exactly. So we have, just the numbers are higher at the top end.” Bouchard’s statement seems not to be just in favor of male players, but also in contradiction to the reality of women’s tennis. 

While the 30-year-old highlighted the high ranking of the male tennis players, she missed taking into account the achievements of the female tennis stars. Interestingly, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula, who are sitting at no. 2 and 5 in the WTA ranking, failed to achieve enough to be regarded as the ‘top end’ players by Bouchard. Chatting further in the interview, the Canadian star highlighted the prowess the male players have shown on grass. “And I think these guys also like the grass. We have Ben Shelton, who could be a dark horse at Wimbledon. We have Fritz, who plays well on the grass. So you never know what can happen,” she said.

Both Shelton and Fritz have won 2 titles each on the Grass surfaces, however, their record in Wimbledon is not fascinating enough. In 2022, while Fritz show his best results, reaching the Quarterfinals of the tournament, Shelton’s highest achievement is only reaching the second round a year later. In the ongoing Queen’s Club championship too, while Shelton was ousted in the first round, Fritz faced a defeat in the quarterfinals. However, Tommy Paul has been on a decent campaign on grass as he is all set to play the Queen’s Club championship semifinal on Saturday. Meanwhile, Andy Roddick has a different approach to this question.

‘That just shows how…’ Andy Roddick minces no words to disagree with Eugenie Bouchard

The former US tennis player Andy Roddick also participated in the same discussion and took a different approach to the question. While he lauded the male players, he reflected on the fact that the ones in the top 20 have never reached a Grand Slam final. Supporting the female athletes, Roddick said, “I don’t think Genie and I have disagreed many times this week, but here goes.”

“I would take the women all day. Just, I think, grand slam experience. We have many women, Maddie, Sloan, Kenan, Coco, that have all actually been in the finals of a grand slam before. None of the men have.” While he lauded the skills of men on the grass court, he said that the Women athletes have a lot better scope. “I like the guys on the surface, to Genie’s point. I give them full credit. Obviously, we’ve seen them play this well here in Queens, but I like Coco, I like Pegula. Maddie can always be effective in a grand slam. So I would go women…”

While Coco Gauff has a Grand Slam in her name, Jessica Pegula has reached the Quarterfinals of all four major tournaments in her career.  Madison Keys has also demonstrated enough resilience on grass and has reached the Quarterfinals of Wimbledon twice in her career, in 2015 and 2023. Meanwhile, as the season progresses, it will be interesting to see which segment of players actually prove their mettle at the grand stage of the game.