Pam Shriver asks Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff to make "two speeches" in Italian Open final after Madrid fiasco 

Pam Shriver is hoping that the Italian Open turns out well for women’s doubles finalists Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, who were wronged during their recent Madrid Open final.

On Thursday, May 18, Americans Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff reached the Italian Open women’s doubles final with a 4-6, 7-6 (5), 10-8 victory over Desirae Krawczyk and Demi Shuurs. This is the pair's third consecutive WTA 1000 final, having earlier won the Miami Open and finished as the runners-up at the Madrid Open.

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff’s Miami Open trophy ceremony went off without a hitch. At the recent Madrid Open, however, the runner-up duo as well as the winning pair of Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia were unethically stopped from giving their finalists' speeches -- an incident which generated controversy and was condemned by the tennis world for its seemingly misogynistic nature.

Former American tennis player Pam Shriver has now playfully requested Pegula to make two speeches after their upcoming Italian Open final on Saturday, to compensate for the absence of speeches in the Spanish capital.

“Please make two speeches!” Pam Shriver said in a tweet, as the Americans reached the women’s doubles final.

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Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff to face Storm Sanders and Elise Mertens in 2023 Italian Open final

The American pair at the 2023 Italian Open

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, currently holding a singles ranking of World No. 3 and World No. 5, respectively, faced early defeats in the category at the ongoing Italian Open. Pegula crashed out in her opening match against compatriot Taylor Townsend while Gauff suffered a loss in her second-round match against Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova.

However, they are still alive in the doubles category, and will be aiming for the title in the ultimate clash on Saturday, May 20. They are pitted against the Australian-Belgian pair of Storm Sanders and Elise Mertens.

Saturday’s clash in Rome will mark the American duo’s fourth women’s doubles final of 2023 after Qatar, Miami and Madrid. It will also be their eighth final overall, as a pair.

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff have had a highly successful partnership, which has earned them five titles thus far. They lifted two WTA 500 trophies in San Diego (2022) and Qatar (2023), and three WTA 1000s titles in Qatar (2022), Toronto (2022) and Miami (2023).

Additionally, Pegula and Gauff were also the runners-up at the 2022 French Open, and will soon gear up to defend their finals appearance on Parisian clay after the Italian Open.