Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula 1 win away from booking their spot in the WTA Finals with win in San Diego
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula’s 7-5, 6-0 triumph in their opening doubles match at the San Diego Open against the Chinese pair of Xu Yifan and Yang Zhaoxuan all but confirms their spot in the doubles category at the WTA finals, scheduled to be held in Dallas, Texas, in early November.
coco and jess all but secure their spot in the wta finals with a 7-5, 6-0 R1 win in san diego https://t.co/GUZW9Pllig
In 2022 so far, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula have won two WTA 1000 titles as partners – the Qatar Open and the Canadian Open and finished as the runner-up at the French Open. The American duo are 30 points away and are placed fifth in the race to the WTA Finals in Dallas with 3,526 points, one spot ahead of their previous opponents.
The Czech pair of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova, meanwhile, have already qualified for the tournament, grabbing the top spot. Behind them, Gabriela Dabrowski and Giuliana Olmos are the second to book their spot. Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko are placed third, while Elise Mertens and Veronika Kudermetova are fourth to qualify.
In the hopes of securing their spot, the American duo will next face the winner between Sofia Kenin – Liudmila Samsonova and Rebecca Marino – Carol Zhao in the quarterfinals in San Diego.
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula’s spectacular 2022 season
Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are having a phenomenal 2022 season in singles as well as in doubles. The American tennis stars’ outstanding display of tennis has seen them reach a career-high in both categories this year.
Gauff, the 2022 French Open singles runner-up, is currently at a career-high of World No. 8 in singles, whereas in doubles, she struck gold by reaching the World No. 1 ranking a few weeks ago. She is currently in fifth position. Pegula, meanwhile, ranked World No. 6 in singles, has dropped one place since peaking at World No. 5 in September. In doubles, the older American is currently at a career-high of World No. 6.
With 3,232 qualifying points to her credit, Jessica Pegula has already qualified on October 10 to play the Finals in singles. Whereas Coco Gauff, with 2,983 points, is a few wins away from securing the fourth spot behind Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur and Pegula.
In her pursuit for a spot in Dallas, the young American is set to face an even younger compatriot for the first time in Robin Montgomery. Speaking about her chances of making it to the WTA Finals, Coco Gauff said that she was motivated to end the season on a high, starting with San Diego.
"I definitely think this is the toughest part of the season for everyone. The Grand Slams are over and you're just trying to get through the end of the season and you see the finish line. I'm just motivated to try and finish it as well as I can. I'm glad that San Diego is the start of the end," she said to WTA insider.