Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula withdrew from the 2024 Australian Open shortly before their first match in the doubles competition.
The two Americans entered the 2024 season with one goal on their mind, and that's success at the 2024 Olympics. Pegula even hinted that they may end their doubles partnership after the Olympics, as Gauff seemingly wants to focus mostly on her singles career.
Both are primarily singles players, and heading into the 2024 Australian Open, their main objective was obviously to do well in singles. That applies to the 19-year-old so far, as she has won both of her first two matches.
However, her more experienced doubles partner, Pegula, lost her second-round match on Thursday, only hours before the two were set to play their first-round doubles match against French duo Clara Burel and Diane Parry.
Ironically, it was Burel who defeated the American in the singles tournament, and after the singles defeat, Pegula probably struggled to find enough motivation to compete in the doubles tournament, but she also probably wasn't 100% healthy to do so.
Playing prior to the Australian Open, Pegula competed in Adelaide, where she withdrew before her semifinal match, suggesting she may have been far from fit in Melbourne.
That means the two were replaced in the draw by alternates Tamara Korpatsch and Elixane Lechemia, who will take on the French duo in the opening round of the tournament, giving a unique chance to both teams to make it to the second round of the Grand Slam.
In the second round, Katerzyna Kawa and Marta Kostyuk already await the winner of this match after the Polish-Ukrainian duo overcame Tatjana Maria and Arantxa Rus in the first round of the competition.
As for Gauff and Pegula, the two will likely team up for a few more tournaments this year, before their partnership ends at the Paris Olympics, hopefully for the two, with a medal.
