Coco Gauff vs Madison Keys vs Jessica Pegula: Who has performed better on grass in the past?

Coco Gauff, Madison Keys, and Jessica Pegula lead a fast-growing pack of successful Americans on the WTA Tour. The first two have lifted trophies at the season's opening two Grand Slams.

As the Tour makes the shift from red dirt to grass courts, it is worth taking a look at their past performances on the surface. Here, we compare the past achievements of the top-three ranked American players on grass:

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#3 Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff at the 2019 Wimbledon. (Source: Getty)

Grass is a surface that rewards experience. The more one plays on it, the better their movement and shot selection get on the surface. It is then unsurprising that Coco Gauff, the youngest of the three Americans on the list, has had the least relative success on the lush lawns.

The American, to her credit, debuted on the surface with a bang. Playing in her maiden Grand Slam main draw at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, she found herself pitted against five-time former champion Venus Williams. Only 15 at the time, Gauff caused a big upset by taking down her more fancied opponent in a 6-4, 6-4. She would go on to make the fourth round before going down against eventual champion Simona Halep.

That run, however, was as good as it got for the American at Wimbledon. She has repeated the fourth-round showing at Wimbledon once (2024) but is yet to break past the barrier. Her overall win-loss at the tournament stands at 11-5 (69%) and includes one first-round exit.

Gauff has also never reached a Tour-level final on grass. She has made a couple of big semifinals, Berlin last year and Eastbourne the year before. And if there is still doubt about her being just a notch below Keys and Pegula on grass, this next stat would likely put that to rest, too. In one of her two big grass semifinals at Berlin, she was beaten comprehensively by Pegula 7-5, 7-6(2). The other outing, meanwhile, came to an end with a 6-3, 6-3 thrashing at the hands of Keys.

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#2 Jessica Pegula

Jessica Pegula with the Berlin 2024 trophy. (Source: Getty)

Jessica Pegula possesses flat groundstrokes that are well-suited for grass. The lower bounce on the surface accentuates the pace of her shot as the ball skids away quickly, leaving opponents scrambling to keep pace.

Her prowess on the surface was on full showcase during her run to the title in Berlin last year. The American beat the likes of Coco Gauff, Anna Kalinskaya, and Donna Vekic to capture a WTA 500 crown, the biggest that there is to offer outside of Wimbledon.

Speaking of which, Pegula has had a decent history at the grass court Slam. A former quarterfinalist, she holds an 8-5 (62%) win-loss record at the tournament.

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#1 Madison Keys

Madison Keys with the Rothesay International Eastbourne trophy. (Source: Getty)

Madison Keys' love affair with grass goes all the way back to her career beginnings. It was this surface where her big serve and booming groundstrokes saw her soar to a maiden career title: the 2014 Eastbourne International, where she beat Angelique Kerber in the final.

Keys was a fearless, free-swinging teen phenomenon at the time, and she continued to approach her tennis with the same mindset for years to come. While she went through ups and downs over the period, success on grass remained fairly constant.

Keys would go on to lift a second grass court title at Birmingham in 2016. defeating Barbora Strvcova in the summit clash. Sandwiched between those two runs was her first Wimbledon quarterfinal in 2015.

The American's recent showing at the All England Club has been consistent. In fact, the last time she lost before the second week of the tournament was way back in 2019. Her win-loss record has also soared to an impressive 25-10 (71%) as a result.

Keys once again reminded the tennis world of just what she is capable of achieving on the surface last year, capturing her second Eastbourne title with wins over Coco Gauff and Daria Kasatkina, among others. In a telling stat, she has never lost a final on the lawns.