Jessica Pegula Reveals How Her Retirement Decision Left Coco Gauff Mad

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula have both booked a spot in the third round of the ongoing Cincinnati Open.

Jessica Pegula Reveals How Her Retirement Decision Left Coco Gauff Mad

Jessica Pegula, Coco Gauff (Image via X/The Tennis Podcast)

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Jessica Pegula has planned to retire around the age of 35. But Coco Gauff is against this decision as she would rather want her compatriot to play at least till the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Both Gauff and Pegula are in Cincinnati and have reached the third round. The 21-year-old defeated Wang Xinyu to set up a clash with Dayana Yastremska. It was the Ukrainian who ended her run in the first round of this year’s Wimbledon.

Pegula beat Kimberly Birrell and will face Magda Linette next. During an interview with the Tennis Insider Club podcast, Pegula made her feelings known on her retirement plans.

I think I was talking to Coco, and she was like, ‘You can play until LA!’. She was mad at me because I was like maybe a couple more years, and she was like, ‘If you’re going to play two more years, you might as well play another year for the LA Olympics.

WTA players often struggle to play their best on a consistent basis after having kids. Pegula admires those women, but she doesn’t want to walk in their footsteps. If she has a kid, she would hang up her racket. And if she wants to hang up her racket a couple of years later, Gauff wouldn’t let that happen.

She was like, ‘You can’t retire before then! This was like a year before, and I was like four years, that’s a long time. I will be 34. What are you talking about? She was like, ‘You can just stay top 20, with the way you hit the ball, you will be fine. I am not letting you retire before the LA Olympics, especially if I’m qualified!’

Jessica Pegula added

Pegula holds a 3-0 head-to-head lead over her third-round opponent Linette, last meeting her in the second round of this year’s Indian Wells. Gauff has won three of her four matches against Yastremska, and the upcoming match will be their third clash this season after the Madrid Open second round and the Wimbledon first round.

Coco Gauff relives her victory over Venus Williams

Coco Gauff was 15 when she hogged the limelight for the first time by beating none other than her idol Venus Williams in the first round of the 2019 Wimbledon. It was her first appearance at Wimbledon, and her run ended not before the fourth round. At a press conference in Cincinnati, Gauff recalled that memorable moment of her career.

Venus Williams (2)
Venus Williams (Image via Served with Andy Roddick)

It’s something that I can tell my kids and everything like that. Honestly, for people who don’t watch tennis, maybe before the US Open, or honestly, the referee incident, people knew me most by that. They were like ‘You are the little girl who beat V’. I was like, yes.

Gauff met Williams another time, again in a Grand Slam tournament- at the 2020 Australian Open, the result of which also ended in the youngster’s favor. The 45-year-old still hasn’t called time on her career and played both the Citi Open and the Cincinnati Open.

In Washington, the five-time Wimbledon singles champion beat Peyton Stearns in straight sets but was no match for Magdalena Frech in the second round. At the Cincinnati Masters, Williams suffered a straight-set defeat to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.

Gauff is chasing her second title in Cincy. She lifted it in 2023 by beating Karolina Muchova, while last year, Yulia Putintseva knocked her out in the opening round. The two-time Grand Slam singles champion has two WTA 1000 titles to her name – the 2023 Cincinnati Masters and the 2024 China Open. She also reached the finals of the Madrid Open and the Italian Open, but lost both to Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini, respectively.

Also read: Daniil Medvedev Makes Alarming ‘Confidence’ Remarks After Crisis Deepens at Cincinnati Open