WTA Rankings: When could Jessica Pegula overtake Coco Gauff in battle to be American No 1
Jessica Pegula’s title run at the Dubai Tennis Championships has seen her move to within touching distance of Coco Gauff in the WTA Rankings in the battle to be the American No 1.
Pegula started the back-to-back WTA 1000 Middle East swing at No 6 in the rankings while she was the American No 3 behind Amanda Anisimova and Gauff, but she finished at No 5 with Gauff only a handful of points ahead of her.
The 2024 US Open runner-up defeated Elina Svitolina 6-2, 6-4 in Dubai over the weekend as she secured her fourth WTA 1000 title and the 10th overall on the WTA Tour.
Pegula didn’t feature in the first tournament, the Qatar Open, as she withdrew due to fatigue after the Australian Open and her two rivals failed to make the most of her absence as both had a poor tournament.
American No 1 Battle Before Qatar
4. Amanda Anisimova – 6,680
5. Coco Gauff – 6,423
6. Jessica Pegula – 6,103
Anisimova was the defending champion in Dubai, but she retired from her second-round match against Karolina Pliskova due to illness while Gauff was stunned at the same stage by lucky loser Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
As a result, Anisimova slumped two places to No 6 (5,690) with Gauff taking over as No 4 and the American No 1 (6,423) with Pegula up to No 5 (5,888) despite not playing.
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Anisimova and Gauff returned to form in Dubai as they both reached the semi-finals, but they were outdone by Pegula as she not only reached the final, but went on to win the title.
Pegula is now just 35 points behind Gauff with Anisimova falling off the pace.
American No 1 Battle After Dubai
4. Gauff – 6,803
5. Pegula – 6,768
6. Anisimova – 6,070
Pegula will return to action at the ATX Open in Austin this week while her two compatriots will rest ahead of the Sunshine Double.
But Pegula won’t be able to overtake Gauff this week as she is the defending champion, so she will drop 250 points at the start of the tournament while she can only regain that tally again. The best she can do is keep the gap at 35 points.
The battle to be the American No 1 will thus intensify at the Indian Wells Open, which runs from March 4 to 15.
Pegula, though, is impressed with the number of American women who are featuring in the latter stages of big tournaments.
“Our depth in the US is pretty crazy right now. I feel like every time I go deep, there’s multiple Americans that are there, especially now that we have Coco, Amanda doing so well. Yeah, it’s been incredible,” she said.
“I’m glad that I’ve been able to be a part of this kind of era of all these girls doing really well in the States. I know it’s definitely motivated me to see them do well.
“I think when you grow up with people, see them all the time, you’re practicing, you’ve seen them in juniors, you see them have good results, it motivates you that you can do the same thing. I think we’ve really kind of pushed each other in that way to keep improving to see that we can accomplish all these things.
“It’s amazing. It’s an honour to be a part of this amazing group.”
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Besides Gauff, Pegula and Anisimova, there are two more Americans in the top 20 of the rankings with 2025 Australian Open champion Madison Keys at No 15 while rising star Iva Jovic sits at No 18.
Pegula added: “Again, there’s a lot of young ones like Iva that are coming up, which I’m way older than, which is really depressing (smiling). I’m glad I’m able to inspire and, yeah, show that next generation that’s coming up. We have a lot of really young girls, too.
“It’s just been awesome. It’s an honour that I’ve been able to be one of the top ones representing my country at BJK Cup and the Olympics, as well. Be hopefully somewhat of a role model for the next crop that’s coming up.”
