Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula haven't played doubles so far this year, but they did at the 2024 Indian Wells Open, and they won their first match back.
Last year, we saw Gauff hint at not playing doubles as much anymore because she wanted to focus on singles. It wasn't a huge surprise because she played quite a bit of doubles last year, and it wasn't really needed.
She didn't rule out playing altogether, but she did say it wasn't going to be as much as before. That was put into practice this year as this event is the first one they're playing together.
They didn't play in Australia or anywhere else but decided to team up at the WTA 1000 tournament on their home soil, probably to get some practice time in for the Olympic Games later this year. It's widely expected that they will play together there.
Their opponents were compatriots Sofia Kenin and Bethanie Mattek-Sands. That's not the easiest matchup because both are pretty solid players and can play well.
They actually started really well, taking an early break from Gauff and Pegula. It was a proper battle between the teams, but Gauff and Pegula were able to break back and make it interesting again.
They even outplayed their opponents for the duration of the opening set, winning it 7-5. The second set was quite similar because it was a proper battle once again, but Gauff and Pegula were clearly better.
They did struggle a bit on their serve, hitting five doubles faults, but stellar play in rallies helped them overcome that. They broke at the perfect time in the second set to take a 5-3 lead and then finished off the match, winning 7-5, 6-3.
It was great to see them back on the courts and winning a match, and it will be interesting to see what kind of run they can put together.