While Pegula continues to compete in doubles occasionally, she’s been selective about her appearances, and a recent retirement mid-match at the Miami Open sparked further questions about her doubles future.
The current World No. 3 in singles is in action this week at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she’s entered both singles and doubles, this time teaming up with fellow American Desirae Krawczyk.
Reflecting on her partnership with Gauff, Pegula said:
“Coco and I played so much for a couple years there. We did great. A lot of really amazing results and memories.”
However, as both players began thriving in singles, the intense schedule became harder to manage.
“At the same time doing well in singles, we obviously didn’t want to play as much anymore,” Pegula added.
She’s now planning to reduce her doubles commitments even further, including skipping all Grand Slams this season:
“The schedule just gets really, really tough. I’ve barely played this year, probably won’t play any of the Grand Slams. I always feel like I’ll end up having to pull out.”
Pegula also addressed her recent retirement in Miami:
“It was kind of unfortunate to play a long match and then have to play doubles. I wasn’t feeling physically fit and had to retire. Scheduling makes it hard, but I still love playing doubles when I can.”
This week, Pegula and Krawczyk will face the pair of Liudmila Samsonova and Nicole Melichar-Martinez in Stuttgart. In singles, Pegula has a bye into the second round, where she’ll meet either Magdalena Frech or Sara Errani.
