'Definitely A Favourite': Gauff Backed For US Open Success By Pegula

| by Sebastian Dahlman

Coco Gauff is widely considered a favourite for the US Open, and her doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, could certainly see it happening.

Gauff and Pegula recently battled in Montreal, with the latter winning and going all the way to win the trophy at the WTA 1000 event. Her doubles partner Gauff would do the same at the Cincinnati Masters recently, which solidified her as a threat for the US Open.

Gauff wants to win the Grand Slam; winning her maiden one on native soil would only make it just better. Asked about the possibility of that happening ahead of the tournament, Pegula admitted that she could see it happening, especially with the way Wimbledon ended for the youngster.

No, Coco has been -- I think definitely that Wimbledon loss seemed to really drive her to want to improve and get better. I think she came out of that really hungry, which is great to see from somebody that already has a lot of success at such a young age. Already has a long journey ahead of her. To see her bounce back from that was really promising.

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Obviously going to D.C., I played her in Montreal. I think she said it kind of helped her, she thinks, beat Iga because I beat her, then I beat Iga. That's how it works sometimes on tour, when you see your friends or your coworkers, whatever you want to call them, having success, you've maybe beaten them, whatever it is, it can give you a lot of confidence going into another week where you're in that situation.

Pegula certainly has the same goal, and both have the confidence now after the recent big trophies. Speaking more on Gauff, Pegula admitted that playing on the native soil will certainly help the teenager because she loves to play for the crowd.

I'm glad that it seemed like she got confidence from that week, as well, and was able to take it into Cincinnati. I think she's really confident. When any player is confident, that's when they're toughest to beat.

I know she loves playing with a crowd. Yeah, I think she's definitely a favorite for this. I think there's a lot of favorites, but yeah, especially her, her and the crowd, coming off a lot of momentum, it's big. Yeah, it's been really nice to see. I'm glad she's been improving and learning. She's the future of the sport, so... It's nice to see.

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