Fourth seed Jessica Pegula will face fellow American and sixth seed Coco Gauff in the quarterfinal of the 2023 Canadian Open in Montreal on Friday, August 11, 2023.
We didn't get this matchup last week in Washington following Pegula's shock defeat to Maria Sakkari. But the projections have worked out perfectly in Canada where the world number three has eased into the last eight without dropping a set.
Pegula couldn't have asked for a better draw to start things off here. She had a bye in the first round and then faced lucky loser Yulia Putintseva in her opening match, winning that one 6-4, 6-4. Her third-round match was a stroll for the most part, cruising past Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-0.
Gauff is the most in-form player at the start of the North American hard-court swing. She brings an eight-match win streak on Friday following her title success at the Citi Open last weekend.
Gauff has continued to hold her head high this week, not letting complacency kick in, and she's been equally impressive in dismissing British number one Katie Boulter for the loss of four games and ended the winning run of new Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova for the loss of three games.
Head-to-head:
Pegula and Gauff have met twice on the WTA tour. The head-to-head is locked at 1-1. Pegula won their first meeting on hard courts in 2022 in Dubai, 6-4, 6-4. But it was Gauff who got the better of her doubles partner on the grass in Eastbourne at the end of June, 6-3, 6-3.
Prediction:
To reiterate my point, Gauff is the in-form player coming into this match and her recent win streak proves this. At the same time, she's been playing full-throttle tennis. A lot of people expected her to struggle a bit in Canada after a long week under stifling conditions in Washington.
Gauff looks to have greater control of rallies, and I think the impact of Brad Gilbert cannot be underestimated. She's now using her vulnerable wing (forehand) as a decoy and completely took Vondrousova by surprise with how deep she was able to return the ball.
However, Pegula is gritty and will play rallies for as long as Gauff wants to and can counter her compatriot's aggression. So we could be in for an intriguing quarterfinal. As immense as Pegula's record is (26 quarterfinals since 2021), this is where she tends to run into a roadblock. And the formbook is hard to ignore.
Prediction: Coco Gauff to win in three sets
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