Coco Gauff‘s hunt for a new doubles partner is still not over. Jessica Pegula, currently taking a break from tennis due to her injuries. seems to have left her fellow American in a lurch. For the Italian Open, Gauff will partner with New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe, a doubles champion and Grand Slam winner. While Pegula and Gauff had great hopes for the summer, things seem to have gone awry.
Through an Instagram story, Jessica Pegula has declared, “Will miss Rome and possibly RG. I actually feel really good but have to work back into training at a 🐌’s pace.” Along with her fans, this is also bad news for Coco Gauff, who had earlier announced that she would look forward to playing fewer doubles matches after this season. The 20-year-old will now have to fulfill her dream of competing in the French Open doubles match with a new partner.
Pegula has withdrawn from a series of tournaments this year. First in the Australian Open doubles category, then in the WTA 1000 events in Doha and Dubai, due to a neck injury. Continuing the trend in Madrid due to an undisclosed injury, Pegula also withdrew from the Italian Open as well, although no reason for that has been given as of now.
But her back-to-back withdrawals have pushed Coco Gauff to find a new doubles partner this season. She did so in the Madrid Open by playing with Taylor Townsend and reached the quarterfinals, but what about the upcoming Olympics? “One of my biggest dreams is to win a gold medal, and frankly, I think it’s one of the things that it doesn’t matter what event it’s in,” Gauff said in January.
But there was also a concerning update, “I will say next year I do want to play a little bit less doubles maybe after the Olympics, but it’s tough right now I feel like to just stop playing completely when you are doing well with someone who is from your same country, which you don’t see that in a lot of teams.”
But her back-to-back withdrawals have pushed Coco Gauff to find a new doubles partner this season. She did so in the Madrid Open by playing with Taylor Townsend and reached the quarterfinals, but what about the upcoming Olympics? “One of my biggest dreams is to win a gold medal, and frankly, I think it’s one of the things that it doesn’t matter what event it’s in,” Gauff said in January.
Sadly, the OG All-American duo’s progress seems to have been put on hold for now. But as far as the French Open is concerned, there might be one player on the horizon who would like to team up.
Alicia Parks shows interest in partnering with Coco Gauff for Roland Garros
Alicia Parks, who has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 27, is up for partnering with Coco Gauff! During a recent Q&A session on her Instagram story, one fan asked her whether she would play Coco in the major doubles.
Parks, excited at the thought, replied: “I would”. She also tagged the 20-year-old player along with the answer. Although there is no confirmation from Gauff’s side, partnering with Parks will surely be a fresh treat for their fans.