"Coco Gauff and I definitely wanna play Olympics next year, will rethink things after that" - Jessica Pegula on future of doubles partnership
Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff climbed to the top of the world rankings in doubles, but if the former's words are anything to go by, the duo may not stay in that position for long.
Speaking to Tennis Channel post her singles win at the WTA Finals on Thursday, Pegula said both she and Gauff want to focus a little more on singles — especially with the latter having won the US Open.
The American said they were looking forward to competing at the Olympics but may rethink their involvement on the doubles court after that.
"Especially with Coco Gauff winning US Open, you know, I'm sure she's set on really doing well at the Slams, so we'll see," Jessica Pegula said.
"We definietly want to play Olympics next year. I think so, maybe once we get past that we'll rethink about it but yeah. It's just gonna happen, so maybe," she added.
Addressing the pressure of playing both singles and doubles throughout the year, Pegula said she competed in a whopping 120 matches this season.
The American clarified that it wasn't by design and just happened since both she and Coco Gauff were playing at the same events a lot, which made it easier for them to pair up for the doubles competition as well.
"I played like 120 matches like combined with everything," Jessica Pegula said. "And so yeah next year, I think Coco Gauff and I will probably play less doubles we want to try and focus on singles."
"Again, it didn't mean to happen like that," she continued. "Like we just kind of bolt started winning at both at the same time and we were all playing the same events so at the time, we're like okay let's just play, and we kept winning."
Jessica Pegula, and Coco Gauff winless in doubles at the WTA Finals
While their singles campaigns have gotten off to good starts, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff have gone winless in their opening two doubles encounters at the 2023 WTA Finals.
The pairing was stunned by the duo of Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski in their opener before being ousted in a three-set marathon against Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
Gauff and Pegula had also gone winless in their three matches at last year's season-ending championships. They will look to snap the five-match losing streak against Laura Seigemund and Vera Zvonereva in their group stage match on Friday.