Jessica Pegula shows career-best dorm, defeats Coco Gauff at WTA finals

At 31, Jessica Pegula is playing the best tennis of her career, according to co-coach Mark Knowles. The American is making her fourth consecutive year-end Top 10 finish and her fourth appearance at the WTA Finals.

“I was a little bit of a late bloomer,” Pegula said. “Success at a younger age is different—you’ve been competing at a high level for a decade by the time you hit 30. I feel like I’m really not a 31-year-old on tour; maybe I’m more like 28. At least that’s what I tell myself.”

Pegula’s approach is clearly working. The No. 5 seed defeated No. 3 Coco Gauff, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-2, on Sunday night in the opening round-robin match of the Stefanie Graf Group. Gauff, 21, the youngest singles player in the field, struggled with 17 double faults and nine breaks. This match marked the first round-robin singles contest to go the distance after three straight-set blowouts.

“It was a very up-and-down match,” Pegula said. “I had to adjust a few things and fight through it, and I think I did that well.”

Pegula will next face No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday. Sabalenka defeated No. 7 Jasmine Paolini, 6-3, 6-1, earlier on Sunday and holds an 8-3 advantage over Pegula in their head-to-head meetings.

Despite being a decade older than Gauff, Pegula came in with a narrow 4-3 edge in head-to-head matches. Their only meeting in 2025 saw Gauff win the Wuhan final, 6-4, 7-5, but Pegula had endured eight consecutive three-set matches in Wuhan and Beijing just days prior, making her Sunday victory even more impressive.