WTA Toronto: Jessica Pegula Gears Up for Double Duty With New Partner After Coco Gauff Split

The American dream had to take a big hit at the Paris Olympics. The flagbearer Coco Gauff was expected to bring in a gold medal but the events took an unexpected turn, showing her the way out, both in singles as well as doubles. While the disappointment of her singles defeat was a sole shock, Jessica Pegula had to share the emotional weight with her because of the early doubles loss. While Gauff seems to be a bit disoriented, Pegula has managed to lift her back up.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula faced a significant disappointment in the women’s doubles tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics. They lost 6-2, 4-6, 5-10 to the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova in the second round. Despite a strong first set, the American duo couldn’t maintain their momentum, ending their dreams of a gold medal.

As the players prepare for the North American hardcourt season, Jessica Pegula is gearing up for the upcoming event in Toronto. According to the recently updated schedule, Pegula will be moving ahead with the doubles participation, but without her usual partner Coco Gauff. Instead, she will team up with Giuliana Olmos as they are scheduled to play their opening match on August 6th.

Although Gauff’s name wasn’t seen alongside her doubles partner Pegula, she is still getting ready to be a part of the singles campaign. Therefore, there are chances that the dynamic duo could be seen facing each other but will surely not be sharing the court.

However, it isn’t just Jessica Pegula who plans to navigate the roads of competition with a dissimilar partner. During the French Open, Gauff candidly teamed up with Katerina Siniakova when Pegula couldn’t participate. This new partnership led Gauff to her first doubles Grand Slam title.

The fans seemed to like the newly formed alliance and Siniakova also praised their teamwork, saying, “We kind of needed to figure out how the other one is playing, but I don’t think, or from my side, that we had a problem with it. We really trusted each other, and I think the combination was working really well. Of course, when we won two, three matches, it was really helping and we got the confidence.”

As the American duo faces challenges, could this be the time for them to reassess their partnership? Even before entering the Olympic Village, Pegula made a statement that seemingly overlooked Gauff’s participation at Roland Garros.

Jessica Pegula denies being informed about Coco Gauff’s French Open success

Coco Gauff made a massive head start during the French Open. After making it to the semi-finals, she was matched against the “queen of clay” Iga Swiatek, and therefore couldn’t stand against her for long. She still kept her hopes high and therefore decided to go for the doubles trophy alongside her partner Katerina Siniakova. Although Jessica Pegula wasn’t able to side with her, she also denied being informed of Gauff’s dominance in the event.

“I mean [Katerina] Siniakova, she’s an amazing doubles player too. I didn’t even know they were playing until they were like in the quarters and I was like, ‘Oh, I didn’t even realise,’ because I wasn’t following that much at home with the time change so it’s funny,” she said in an interview with Steve Weissman and Martina Navratilova.

It could be a possibility that Coco Gauff plans on not stressing her body before the US Open. While there’s enough time before the hard court major event, her decision to not side with Pegula is concerning.