Pegula offers perspective after Gauff’s tearful | Sports News

Jessica Pegula insisted Coco Gauff’s emotional breakdown during her second-round victory on the US Open took “guts.”

On Friday, Pegula — who’s rocking a daring outfit in New York — confirmed her would possibly as she impressively defeated Victoria Azarenka in straight units. The American superior to the fourth spherical of the US Open with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over the previous world No. 1.

Her win comes not even 24 hours after Gauff endured an extremely emotional second. During her second-round win over Donna Vekic, Gauff was lowered to tears after delivering seven double faults within the opening set.

However, the 21-year-old persevered by means of the battle and found her groove within the second. With Olympic legend Simone Biles watching on, Gauff stormed to a 7-6 (5), 6-2 win to advance to the third spherical of the US Open.

Pegula was watching on and acknowledged the strain of enjoying at Arthur Ashe Stadium with the expectations of the American followers. She praised Gauff for exhibiting followers that the 2023 US Open champion is just human.

“Being able to do that in front of a stadium and kind of break down and go through whatever she was going through inside and then still be able to win the match and come out on the other side, I mean, that takes guts,” Pegula stated. “Ashe is really overwhelming, so not only are you playing out there, but you’re trying to win, and then you feel like you’re failing, and then you’re crying, and then you still win. That’s even harder than not showing any emotion at all.

“So I think it showed that she was human. I think sometimes fans don’t understand that tennis isn’t life or death, but when you’re out there and you’re doing something that you’ve worked your whole life for and you feel like something is not working, and obviously for her she hit a point where she couldn’t hold it in anymore, and it probably helped her that she cried and got it out of her system.

“It’s not always healthy to keep everything in. Clearly she was struggling, and that’s what she needed to do in that moment to overcome it, and she did. So it’s not easy having to go out there with a lot of pressure, with her trying to change things on her serve, with having to step out there and feel like you’re failing in front of an entire stadium. That’s really tough.

Pegula added: “I don’t think outsiders really understand how complicated that is and how difficult it is and how you have to be pretty fearless to go out there and do that. That’s why I’ve always loved our sport, because I feel like we’re willing to go out there and fail in front of everybody, and it’s just us. It’s not like you have other teammates that maybe dropped the ball or missed a pass, or there’s someone else you can put the blame on, or the coach, or something like that.

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“No, it’s just you out there, and that’s really difficult and something that makes our sport really, really tough.”

Pegula even instructed Gauff’s show of emotion may help her win a third Grand Slam title: “Some of us say on tour, when we see a girl crying, they’re probably going to win. Some people are like, ‘Oh, she’s crying, she’s breaking down.’ That’s actually worse. She’s probably going to play great now.”

With Pegula already into the following spherical, Gauff will face off in opposition to Magdalena Frech for a place within the fourth spherical on Saturday.