Pegula lauds ‘star’ doubles partner Gauff to mark teen’s birthday

Jessica Pegula has piled the praise on her doubles partner Coco Gauff as both WTA stars gushed over each other in Indian Wells. The world No 6 is celebrating her 19th birthday but is already an established tour player despite being so young. And Pegula said she thought the teenager had all the qualities of a “star”.

Gauff burst onto the scene when she was just 15 years old, stunning Venus Williams in the first round of Wimbledon before making it to the second week. It was her Grand Slam debut as a qualifier, and the American has since gone on to reach a Major final at the French Open.

The world No 6 turns 19 on Monday and is already an established player in both singles and doubles, hitting No 1 in the world in the doubles rankings last year. Gauff has enjoyed a successful partnership with compatriot Pegula, and the 29-year-old has now talked up the teenager as a “star” with a long and successful career ahead.

“I love Coco. She’s great,” the world No 3 said after her third-round victory in Indian Wells. “I love her team and her family. We have spent a lot of time together on the road and make it entertaining.”

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Pegula was full of admiration for her young partner, as she explained what was special about the teenage sensation. “She’s fun to play with, and she’s so athletic and dynamic and has all these really just like starlike qualities for someone so young. Yeah, I think she’s very mature for her age and very well-spoken,” she continued.

“I think she has a really good head on her shoulders. It’s definitely not life or death with her for tennis. I think she has a good balance of everything else with her family off the court. She likes to have fun with everything she does off the court.” And the two-time title winner also praised Gauff’s family for keeping her humble, adding: “But I think she’s definitely really close with her family, which I think keeps her very grounded and with her siblings and stuff like that.

“You know, then she’s kind of the star on the court. So it’s cool to see how she’s balanced it a lot at such a young age. I would say probably credit to her parents for helping her with that.”

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Pegula also tipped her partner to have a lengthy career, explaining how their contrasting personalities complimented one another on the match court. “Yeah, she’s just a fun personality, and she’s got such a long, long career ahead of her. Just to see what she’s done at such a young age is pretty crazy,” she said.

“But it’s definitely fun, you know, playing doubles with her. I think we are a little bit opposite, but that’s kind of why we work, as well, work well together. Our personalities, you know, kind of mesh on court, and she says I help keep her calm. As long as, I guess, that’s good, maybe as long as that helps her, then everything is good.”

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