Coco Gauff accuses Jessica Pegula of ditching her and calls out rival | Tennis | Sport

Coco Gauff has jokingly accused fellow tennis star Jessica Pegula of “ditching” her. While the pair are regular rivals, they are good friends away from the court and former doubles partners, often spending time together while at tournaments.

Gauff is through to the quarter-finals of the French Open after defeating Russian 20th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-0 7-5 in the fourth round. The 21-year-old, runner-up in 2022, is into the quarter-finals for the fifth successive year. After the match, she was in high spirits as she spoke to the Tennis Channel and was asked about her plans between matches in Paris. A smiling Gauff revealed she had accepted an invitation to watch the new blockbuster movie Thunderbolts with Pegula, only for the plans to fall through. She said: “Jess ditched me, once again. She asked me. I’m putting her on the spot… Hopefully she wins so she won’t be extra upset.

“She asked me if we could watch Thunderbolts together and I was like, ‘Yes.’ Then she went home between [tournaments in] Madrid and Rome. I could have gone but I still waited [for her].”

The plot thickened as Gauff divulged that she had heard that Pegula had gone to see the film without her. She added: “Then I find out yesterday – her physio told my physio – that she saw the movie. She doesn’t know that I know that she knows that I saw it.

“She DMed four days ago asking if I’d seen it yet, and I said, ‘No,’ because I was waiting for her! So this is the second time she’s ditched me. So the next time she asks to go to the movie, the answer is going to be, ‘No,’” she laughed.

She will face another American in the last eight, Australian Open champion Madison Keys, who beat Hailey Baptiste in straight sets. Unlike Gauff, third seed Pegula isn’t through to the quarter-finals after suffering a shock defeat to world No. 361 Lois Boisson.

The 22-year-old Frenchwoman stunned the billionaire heiress 3-6 6-4 6-4 in front of a delirious Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd. The daughter of Terry Pegula, owner of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL side Buffalo Sabres, took her defeat well, insisting she wasn’t surprised by her opponent’s performance.

“I honestly don’t think I was that surprised by how she played,” said Pegula. “I felt like the match turned into exactly how she wanted to play, and that’s unfortunate for me. I think I did a good job in the first set, but at the same time, she definitely served better.”