Coco Gauff explains why she isn’t playing doubles with Serena Williams in Berlin
Coco Gauff raised plenty of eyebrows when she confirmed she would be playing doubles with Jessica Pegula at the Berlin Open.
Many pundits, including legendary tennis journalist Jon Wertheim, predicted Gauff and Serena Williams would form a partnership for the first time at the German event.
Speaking about Williams’ potential partner in Berlin, Wertheim said: “I heard she’s lobbying. Ah f*** it, I’ll just say it. I hear she would like to play with Coco [Gauff] in Berlin!”
Instead, Williams is playing with Muchova and Gauff is playing with Pegula, and the 2025 Roland Garros champion has confirmed the reason why.
According to Gauff, it’s because Williams has never actually asked her.
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Speaking at her Berlin Open press conference, Gauff said pairing with Williams on her comeback “Would be really cool,” before confirming an offer from the tennis legend never actually landed in her inbox.
“I’m hoping that one day she will hit up my line to play doubles. That would be really, really cool. And if she were to compete in singles, it would be cool to step on the court with her just because she’s a legend and someone I look up to. And yeah, I’m very excited to be in the same spaces as her again.”
Williams has played with Victoria Mboko at Queen’s and now Muchova in Berlin on her grass court swing comeback and she’s set for another doubles partner at Wimbledon.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion will play with her sister Venus Williams at the Grand Slam, after the sister pair were awarded a doubles wildcard.
The pair have not played doubles at Wimbledon since 2016, when they raced to the Grand Slam title for the final time.
The Williams’ sisters defeated Tímea Babos and Yaroslava Shvedova in the final to lift the doubles title for the sixth time at Wimbledon.
The 2016 Wimbledon title remains their 14th and last major doubles championship overall, but that could all change if they were to make history and win the Grand Slam again this year, although that is looking increasingly unlikely.
Both women have been playing doubles on the grass in the lead-up to Wimbledon, with Venus set to play alongside Alexandra Eala at Bad Homburg.
The Wimbledon main draw kicks off June 29th, but Serena and Venus will have to wait a little longer to get their campaign underway, with the doubles set to begin later on in the first week.
Venus Williams has not played Wimbledon since 2023, while Serena’s last appearance at the Grand Slam was a year prior in 2022.
