Coco Gauff heads to the movies alone after calling Jessica Pegula 'fake' over text snub
Coco Gauff recently called out Jessica Pegula for ignoring her movie invitation in a hilarious exchange at the Dubai Tennis Championships. Now, the 20-year-old has let fans know that she headed to the theatres on her own after her former doubles partner didn’t respond to her invite.
On Sunday (February 16) at the Dubai Tennis Championships, Pegula was shooting a promotional video for the WTA, when Gauff walked over and interrupted the video. Playfully calling out her friend, the former US Open champion joked,
“You never responded to my text. This girl invited me to go to the movie, I said let me know when you wanna go, and then she never responded. She is fake.”
The WTA then posted the video of the duo's interaction on Instagram, and Gauff reshared the post, writing,
“She texted me on Friday and it is now Sunday and still no response… smh @jpegula 😂 gonna go watch the movie by myself now.”
Now, Coco Gauff has revealed that she did indeed go to the movies on her own. Taking to her Instagram stories on Monday (February 17), the American shared a snap of herself in the theatres, writing,
“lol @jpegula I made it without you.”
Coco Gauff vs Jessica Pegula: Head-to-head record
While they may share a close bond away from tennis, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are fierce rivals when it comes to the court. Throughout their careers, the duo has clashed a total of six times, with Pegula winning four of these matches.
The first time the two Americans played each other was at the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships when Pegula beat Gauff in straight games. Gauff got her back in their next encounter at the 2023 Rothesay International, only for Pegula to win their next three matches.
The most recent encounter between the two Americans came at the 2024 WTA Finals, where Gauff beat Pegula 6-3, 6-2 en route to lifting the trophy.
So far in 2025, both Gauff and Pegula have seen a mixed bag of results. After ending her 2024 season with a title finish at the WTA Finals, Coco Gauff opened her 2025 at the United Cup, where she went undefeated, beating the likes of Iga Swiatek and Shuai Zhang to guide Team USA to the win. Up next, the American made a quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open, before being handed an early exit at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Meanwhile, Jessica Pegula began her year with a runner-up finish at the Adelaide International. She then made an early exit at the Australian Open, before reaching the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open.