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Jessica Pegula recently revealed the names of her two new coaches, following her decision to part ways with veteran coach David Witt after five years of collaboration.
Pegula's split from Witt became public knowledge in February 2024 after her departure from the Australian Open, where she was defeated by Clara Burel in the second round.
Pegula tasted massive success with the veteran coach, who once coached Venus Williams. The American No. 2 won her maiden WTA title at the Citi Open in 2019, the year they began their partnership.
In 2022, Pegula made it to the quarterfinals in three out of four Grand Slams (the Australian Open, French Open and US Open) and won three doubles titles. She also broke into the Top 10 for the first time and even reached a career-high ranking of World No. 3 with Witt being named the WTA Coach of the Year.
The duo continued their success in 2023 with the 30-year-old winning two titles at Montreal and Seoul and securing a Top 5 finish. She also had a great showing at the WTA Finals as she reached the championship match, albeit losing to Iga Swiatek.
However, Jessica Pegula has since moved on from her split with David Witt and revealed to the media ahead of the San Diego Open that she has enlisted the services of two new coaches now: Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein. Both are former tennis pros.
"Right now, I am working in a combination with this guy, Mark Merklein and also Mark Knowles," Pegula said. "You guys must be familiar with them. Both of them can't really travel full time, so kinda still in the process of figuring that out."
"But, both Mark(s), one is based in Boca [Raton], so that is also really very helpful because that's where I live in. It's been nice to have that set up and Mark Knowles is in Dallas, so I actually just spent a week there a few weeks ago," she added.
Pegula continued:
"So, yeah, it's been really nice. I kinda like having a collaborative set up where I can talk to multiple people and get different feedback. So, we will see how it goes, but yeah, I'm really excited."
Jessica Pegula's decision to split with him was a "total surprise," says David Witt
David Witt gave his verdict on Jessica Pegula putting an end to their partnership a few days after the incident, admitting that it took him completely by "surprise."
"It was a total surprise to me. Never saw it coming," Witt told TENNIS.com.
Witt then described how it was "tough" for him to fully comprehend the news, given that they shared a "great friendship" during their time together. He also noted that Pegula is on the brink of winning a Grand Slam, which had been their primary goal.
"We’ve had a great friendship for five years, so it’s very tough. I really value my relationship with my player just as much as I love coaching. It’s a tough business," Witt said.
"She’s obviously knocking on the door [of winning a major]. Our goals were to win a Grand Slam. Obviously, that was cut short, didn’t get to accomplish that, but I think everything else has been awesome," he added.
Jessica Pegula will kick off her San Diego Open campaign against Germany's Jule Niemeier on Thursday, February 29.
