"Coco Gauff did keep her word"- Jessica Pegula on 'locking down' compatriot for Wimbledon doubles despite French Open triumph with Katerina Siniakova

Jessica Pegula recently talked about 'locking down' and partnering with Coco Gauff for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships doubles event, despite the World No.2's recent success in winning the doubles title at the 2024 French Open with Katerina Siniakova. The win at Roland Garros marked Gauff's first Major doubles title, while it was Siniakova's eighth such trophy .

Pegula is seeded fifth in this year's grass court Major. She kicked off her campaign by defeating compatriot Ashlyn Krueger 6-2, 6-0 in just 49 minutes in the first round. The World No. 5 will next face Wang Xinyu in the second round.

This victory marked Pegula's 15th consecutive win in the first round of Grand Slams, a streak that dates back to the 2020 US Open where she had triumphed over Marie Bouzkova 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 in the opening round. Furthermore, this win improved the World No.5's grass court record this season to six wins and two losses.

Following her win against Krueger at SW19, during her post match interview, Jessica Pegula spoke Steve Weissman and Martina Navratilova at the Tennis Channel.

During the conversation, Navratilova humorously inquired if Pegula had to bribe Coco Gauff to play doubles with her at Wimbledon, considering Gauff's recent doubles victory at the 2024 French Open alongside Katerina Siniakova (Gauff and Siniakova had defeated the Italian pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani 7-6(5), 6-3 in the final at Roland Garros).

In response, Pegula commended the American-Czech duo for winning the title and stated that she had Coco Gauff "locked down" to play the doubles with her at the Wimbledon Championships even before the French Open began.

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are seeded 11th in the doubles event at SW19, where they will go up against the Ukrainian duo of Anhelina Kalinina and Dayana Yastremska in their opening match.

"I mean [Katerina] Siniakova, she's an amazing doubles player too. I didn't even know they were playing until they were like in the quarters and I was like, 'Oh, I didn't even realise,' because I wasn't following that much at home with the time change so it's funny. But luckily I think I asked her [Coco Gauff] like before that. I already like had it locked down," Jessica Pegula said [3:32].

Pegula expressed that she is hoping that she and Gauff are able to build a momentum at Wimbledon and carry it through to the 2024 Paris Olympics which is scheduled to commence later this month.

"Yeah, yeah. She did yeah. So that's nice. But hopefully we can maybe get some momentum here [Wimbledon]. I know it's not clay but at least for the Olympics. It's nice, obviously her getting a doubles Slam is really cool and then hopefully you know we seem to play well the doubles. So for the Olympics, I think it'll be fun," she added [3:49].

Jessica Pegula on playing alongside Coco Gauff: "We have a lot of fun playing doubles"

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula with their 2023 Miami Open title

Talking about playing doubles with Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula said that it has been a "fun journey" for both of them. She stated that through their partnership, they have been able to learn from each other while having a great time on the court

"It's been a really fun journey that both of us have been on. She's done all of this so young and me being a late bloomer... it's very different. But I think we've gotten to learn from each other at the same time," Jessica Pegula said (via Olympics.com).

Pegula also stated that she and Gauff have a lot of fun when playing doubles together . The former World No.5 also talked about the positive response she had Gauff have gotten from the fans who have shown interest not only in their singles matches but also in their doubles performances.

"We have a lot of fun playing doubles, even if we're playing [against each other] in singles. It's been really cool to see everyone interested not just in our singles but in us as a team," she added.

Last year, at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff were seeded second in the doubles event. They had reached the third round before falling to Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3.