How Can Gauff & Pegula Still Advance At WTA Finals Despite Losing Two Matches

| by Erik Virostko

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula still have a chance to reach the semifinals at the year-end WTA tournament despite losing their first two matches.

The 2023 WTA Finals have been a mixed experience for the American duo so far. Last year, both Pegula and Gauff went winless at the WTA Finals in both singles and doubles.

This year, the start has been much better for both, even though that applies only to singles. While Pegula won both of her singles matches and secured the spot in the semifinals, Gauff won her opener, and still has a chance to make it to the Final Four.

However, in the doubles, it's a very similar story to last year's tournament. First, the duo lost to Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 6–7(2), 3–6, before also losing to Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova 6–3, 5–7, 6–10.

That means that the first-seeded team has two losses after the first two matches, but still, the Americans can make it out of the group stage and secure their spot in the semifinals of the tournament.

How Gauff Hit Four Consecutive Double Faults And Completely Lost Control At WTA Finals
How Gauff Hit Four Consecutive Double Faults And Completely Lost Control At WTA Finals

To do that, they need quite a few things to come together for them. First, they need to win their last round robin match, which will be played on Thursday evening against Laura Siegemund and Vera Zvonareva.

Ideally, this would need to be a 2-0 win, which would mean that the German-Russian duo would be out of question in a possible three-way tie, as Gauff and Pegula would have a 3-4 set record (42.85%), while their opponents would have a 2-5 record (28.57%).

If the Americans were to win 2-1, they would then need to rely on the games record, but a win in the match should help them best their opponents in that stat as they currently have a 45.45% record, while Siegemund and Zvonareva have 46.34%.

But even despite winning their match, the American duo would still need to wait for the result of the match between Dabrowski and Routliffe, and Krejcikova and Siniakova. If the Czech duo wins, then Gauff and Pegula are out of the tournament.

But there are also a few scenarios that send the top seeds into the semifinals. If Gauff and Pegula win their match in two sets, and Krejcikova and Siniakova lose in two sets, the Americans are through to the semifinals, thanks to the best set record out of the three teams tied at 1 win.

If Gauff and Pegula win in three sets (2-1), they then need the Czech duo to lose in two sets, and have the best games record out of all three teams. However, if Krejcikova and Siniakova win at least one set, Gauff and Pegula are out of the tournament.

Gauff Becomes First American Teenager To Win WTA Finals Match Since Venus Williams In 1999
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