Pegula and Gauff preview WTA Finals clash
Jessica Pegula is set to meet her American compatriot Coco Gauff in the opening round of this year’s WTA Finals.
Pegula had already generated significant discussion prior to the WTA Finals after her comments regarding Mirra Andreeva were captured in streamed practice footage.
That controversy appears to have subsided, with Pegula and Andreeva joking about the incident on social media, shifting focus to the tennis action in Indian Wells.
Pegula faces Gauff in her opening match at this year’s WTA Finals and has discussed how the timing of the fixture might influence the result.
Jessica Pegula indicates that Coco Gauff tends to perform better in the later phases of tournaments.
Both Pegula and Gauff are top-five ranked players on the WTA Tour and are accustomed to meeting in the final stages of events, yet the round-robin format at the WTA Finals means they will encounter each other in their first match.
When questioned about facing Gauff in the opening match of the WTA Finals, Pegula referenced the high level her fellow American displayed in their recent encounters, noting that she typically elevates her game in the later stages of tournaments.
“I think, yeah, that the few times I’ve played her this year, I felt like she played at a very high level,” Pegula said about Gauff in her pre-tournament press conference. “I felt like she played really great tennis. I didn’t feel like we had any kind of, like — I don’t know. Sometimes you play someone, you both know you’re not playing well, it’s a weird level, awkward, whatever.
“I feel like in Wimbledon, Cincinnati especially, she played at a really high level. Especially at Wimbledon towards [the] end of the second, and third set. I think right from the start in Cincinnati.
“I don’t know. I mean, I think it will be a little bit different maybe that we’re playing in a first round first match here, where sometimes I do think when she gets into a rhythm deeper in a tournament, I feel like she always plays better, which is probably why her Finals record is very successful. I don’t know if she’s even lost a Final.
“Stuff like that could play a part. But honestly I have no idea. Like, we’ll see how it goes. You never know what’s going to happen out there. Like you said, we know each other’s game so well. We know what we’re going to try to do, try and change. Yeah, we’ll just see when we get out there if we’re able to kind of execute what we want to.
“If one of us changes or is trying to do something different, how well we can react to that, as well. I think it will be interesting. I think we played first round last year, too, which I kind of forgot about that. Yeah, I remember we played first round. It was three sets, too.”
Pegula and Gauff have faced each other 10 times previously, with the head-to-head record currently tied at five wins apiece. This record includes two matches this year at Wimbledon and in the Cincinnati Open final, where Gauff won both. They have also met three times at the WTA Finals before, with Pegula winning two of those three encounters.
| Year | Tournament | Result |
| 2022 | Dubai Tennis Championships (R32) | Pegula beat Gauff, 6-4 6-4 |
| 2023 | Eastbourne Open (QF) | Gauff beat Pegula, 6-3 6-3 |
| 2023 | Canadian Open (QF) | Pegula beat Gauff, 6-2 5-7 7-5 |
| 2023 | WTA Finals (SF) | Pegula beat Gauff, 6-2 6-1 |
| 2024 | Berlin Open (SF) | Pegula beat Gauff, 7-5 7-6(2) |
| 2024 | WTA Finals (RR) | Gauff beat Pegula, 6-3 6-2 |
| 2025 | Wuhan Open (F) | Gauff beat Pegula, 6-4 7-5 |
| 2025 | WTA Finals (RR) | Pegula beat Gauff, 6-3 6(4)-7 6-2 |
| 2026 | Wimbledon (QF) | Gauff beat Pegula, 4-6 6-3 6-3 |
| 2026 | Cincinnati Open (F) | Gauff beat Pegula, 6-2 6-4 |
Coco Gauff describes what she finds ‘difficult’ about playing Jessica Pegula.
Gauff was also asked about her upcoming match against Pegula and whether she finds it easier or harder to face someone she knows so well. Gauff suggested it is the latter, emphasizing the mental challenge involved.
“I think it’s more complicated in a sense,” Gauff said in her own press conference. “I mean, obviously it’s good to play someone that you already faced before. I mean, new matchups are always difficult.
“But I feel like when you get to the point where you’ve played someone so many times, that’s where it becomes really more difficult, just because of the fact that you got to capitalise on the things you do well, but also know they’re going to change things, vice versa.
“We know each other’s games. I feel like tennis is already mental. When you play somebody so many times, it becomes even more mental because you’re both trying to figure out to go away from your own patterns, because they know your patterns. If that makes sense…”
Gauff and Pegula are placed in Group 1 alongside world number one Elena Rybakina and Linda Noskova. Gauff and Pegula will follow Rybakina and Noskova in their opening match at the WTA Finals on Sunday, November 8.
