TENNIS

Miami Open: Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula are opponents in singles, teammates in doubles

Marc Berman
Special to The Post
Coco Gauff talks with her coach, Diego Moyano, during a practice session earlier this week for the Miami Open.

MIAMI GARDENS — Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff attended Tuesday night’s World Baseball Classic Finals thriller in Miami between USA and Japan, won by the Land of the Rising Sun.

They each have baseball ties with Pegula’s husband, Taylor Gahagen, having played college baseball at SUNY-Fredonia, and Gauff’s younger brother, Codey, becoming a high school baseball standout in Delray Beach. Pegula and Gauff were joined by Gauff’s father, Cori, and Codey.

There’s been a growing relationship between the two South Florida residents ranked in the top six despite a 10-year age difference.

They’ve been doubles partners for nearly a year, rare for top 10 players to do two events.

 And they are virtual neighbors with Gauff, 19, a Delray Beach resident, and the 29-year-old Pegula moving her chief residence from Buffalo to Boca Raton as a teenager. (Pegula’s father is the owner of the NFL's Bills and NHL's Sabres).

On April 14-15 at the Delray Beach Tennis Center, Pegula, ranked third, and the sixth-ranked Gauff will be USA teammates when it faces Austria in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier.

For the moment, the women are slated to eventually meet in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium if form holds. 

They opened the singes tournament Thursday when Gauff beat Rebecca Marino 6-4, 6-3 and Pegula beat qualifier Katherine Sebov 6-3, 6-1. Pegula will meet fellow Floridian Danielle Collins in the third round. Gauff will take on Russian Anastasia Potapova.

Pegula and Gauff received first-round byes as seeded players but wound up in the draw's same quarter. The duo will play their first doubles match Friday at Hard Rock. The women's tournament is up for grabs after No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek's injury withdrawal.

“Jess is one of the nicest players on tour," Gauff said. “When I got on tour, I didn’t know her as well. There’s the age difference. So she wasn’t the first person where I was like 'Let’s be friends.'

“We’ve played doubles and I got to know where she’s very funny and nice,’’ Gauff added. “On court, she’s stagnant, well, not stagnant but very chill.  She doesn’t get upset. She’s kind of like that off the court but definitely has more a goofy side to her. We mesh really well.

“We’re very competitive people but we know we have fun on the court during a match (playing doubles). It shows it can be intense but we can have fun. And that’s nice."

Pegula could appear stone-faced without the animation of Gauff. When an unsmiling Pegula was doing her Miami Open photo shoot, men’s star Frances Tiafoe, who lives in Boynton Beach, yelled out to his Palm Beach County neighbor, “Jess, don’t look so happy."

Pegula and Gauff have experienced different journeys, with Gauff being touted as a Grand Slam champion since she was 15. Pegula was a late bloomer, attended the University of Pittsburgh and didn’t rise prominently until 2021. 

“It would be great definitely to play her here but would’ve been best in the final," Gauff said.

When asked how the age difference is noticeable, Gauff said, “Definitely when talking about certain things and she’s like 'I don’t know what that is.' She’ll talk about a show and I’ll be like 'I’ve never watched that before.'"

While Gauff announced her participation in the BJK Cup three weeks before Pegula, the Boca Raton resident never wavered.

“It’s s super exciting to play that event," Pegula said. “It’s going to be super fun for us. Coco practices there a lot. There’s a lot of tennis interest in the Delray area where we live so we should have a ton of support."

Pegula-Gauff-Madison Keys-Danielle Collins-Caty McNally will form a fearsome fivesome.

"I wasn’t sure if she’d play," Coco said. “f figured she would because it’s so close to home. I’m super excited. We have a great team with Jess, Madison, Caty and Danielle. It’s a super strong team. I don’t know if we’ll be the doubles team (picked) to play but obviously we’ll have a pretty tough lineup for our opponents."

Both players spoke about their local charity endeavors during the formal pre-tournament news conference Tuesday. Pegula is providing service animals for those in need such as war veterans and those with diabetes where a dog can sniff out a low-sugar situation.

Gauff is setting up a Delray foundation for youth sports.

“Especially with my community in Delray around the park, you see a lot of kids with talent, but not the resources to do that," Coco said. “I’m grateful to provide those resources with my family and grandparents. Everyone in Delray knows my grandparents and knows who they are in the community. With their leadership, they’ll help me set the foundation."