"That's weird" - Jessica Pegula responds to claim that she & Coco Gauff will end doubles partnership after Canadian Open

Jessica Pegula has refuted claims that the Canadian Open will be her final doubles event with Coco Gauff as her partner.

Pegula and Gauff are currently contesting the 2023 Canadian Open in Montreal. At the WTA 1000 event, the Americans are participating in the singles as well as the women’s doubles categories.

While they haven’t kicked off their respective singles campaigns yet, the pair is already through to the quarterfinals in the women’s doubles category. They registered a victory over Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi in the Round of 16.

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, who are the top seeds in doubles, are also the defending champions at the event.

It is worth noting that the American duo are taking part in the doubles category after deciding against teaming up at the recently concluded Citi Open. Their absence in the WTA 500 event raised curiosity over the pair’s doubles future.

Jessica Pegula, however, dismissed the concerns during her recent Canadian Open press conference. She confirmed that the duo will be teaming up for the remainder of the season.

"This would be your last event with Coco as a pair, right?" a reporter asked.

“Oh no! no, no. We’re playing with each other, yeah, for the rest of the year, I think,” she said, laughing.

“You know what? Someone sent me that headline, and I was like, ‘That’s weird. I don’t know where on earth that came from.’ Just because we literally didn’t play one week together, everyone was like, ‘You’re not playing?’ And I was like, ‘Relax!’” she added.

At the Citi Open, where Gauff claimed the singles title and Pegula reached the semifinals, the latter had cited the extreme weather in Washington, D.C. as the reason for the pair's absence from the doubles event.

“Everyone gives us cr*p for playing too much, and then we didn’t play DC, and we were getting so many questions. But no, we’re still playing. Yeah,” the World No. 3 said.

Pegula and Gauff will start their singles campaign on August 9, against Yulia Putintseva and Katie Boulter respectively. The pair’s next doubles opponents haven’t been determined yet.

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"Doubles classification is not a priority" – Coco Gauff on her and Jessica Pegula's partnership

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are the Canadian Open defending champions

Coco Gauff also addressed her doubles partnership with Jessica Pegula at a recent Canadian Open press conference.

The 19-year-old, who won her biggest career title yet at the WTA 500 Citi Open last week, stated that she is planning to reduce her doubles participation in the coming years. Gauff noted that she and Pegula are already being selective with the tournaments they play.

"I'm sure when I'm much older [doubles] won't have the same priority. Even now, with Jess, we're playing less doubles than last year. We try to choose our tournaments well," she said. "But it's hard now to stop completely, when you have such good results with a player who comes from the same country as you."

"Doubles classification is not a priority. It comes on its own with the good results, I don't really think about it," she added.

Gauff indicated, however, that she wouldn’t be halting her doubles campaign until at least the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"Next year I want to play less doubles, maybe after the Olympics,” she said. "What I think is that I will do everything I can until the Olympics so that we can qualify."

Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff have won five doubles titles, including three WTA 1000s in Miami, Qatar, and Toronto. They have featured in three other finals, including the 2022 French Open.