WTA Berlin: Coco Gauff’s Intense Fight With Jessica Pegula Forces Chris Evert to Stress on Tennis’ Harsh Reality

Against and together, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are caught in the toughest situation! While fans might have enjoyed watching their recent face-off, the rain put a halt to the competition in Berlin. We have seen several matches in which doubles partners had to face each other. Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have been there a few times. The American tennis legend saw Gauff’s and Pegula’s match and shared her take on the friend-turned-rival scenario.

Evert took to her Twitter handle to share about the difficulty behind two doubles partners facing each other. She was likely reminded of her own time with Navratilova. She wrote, “As I watch this @JPegula @CocoGauff match, I realize how tough it is competing against your friend/ practice partner/ doubles partner.” 

Navratilova and Evert have played against each other 80 times on the WTA Tour. Their first slam final took place in the 1975 French Open, which was also the tournament where the two teamed up for women’s doubles. After smashing each team in doubles throughout their run, they had to compete against each other in a final, won by Evert, followed by a double final as well. 

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula entered the tournament in women’s doubles and lost in the R16, but fate also put them in each other’s path. Rain suspended their competitive clash, as the score currently hangs 7-6, 6-6 for Pegula. They will continue with a tiebreaker soon.

While such situations make for entertaining tennis, the situation has to be a big mental challenge for players. However, despite aiming to strengthen their team, the two had cleared their goals of focusing more on singles once they moved past the quadrennial event after Wimbledon. 

Coco Gauff and Pegula to focus on Singles 

Jessica Pegula had to sit out the clay season as she suffered a rib injury, but she is set to play both singles and doubles now. Despite winning the women’s doubles French Open with another partner, Gauff was happy to have Pegula back as they teamed up instantly. However, the duo may not have much mileage to them, as per Gauff’s statement after her recent triumph. The 20-year-old said, “After I lost the first two (doubles) finals, I thought, well, okay, I reached that point; maybe I should focus on singles.” 

Echoing her statement, Pegula also said, “We definitely want to play the Olympics next year. I think, maybe once we get past that, we’ll rethink about [our partnership].” The duo will be a team in the upcoming Paris Olympics, which is their penultimate goal at the moment. 

While even the participation in the WTA event in Berlin came out as a surprise for Gauff-Pegula fans, the fun might not last long. Who do you think will come out on top when the action resumes? Let us know in the comment section below.