Coco Gauff v Jessica Pegula result – 2024 champion Gauff beaten by fellow American in hard-fought opening clash at the 2025 WTA Finals

Coco Gauff’s title defence got off to a difficult start as Jessica Pegula posted a fine opening victory at the 2025 WTA Finals.

The fifth seed took advantage of the two-time Grand Slam champion’s issues on serve to claim a 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2 win in two hours and 12 minutes.

The eighth meeting between the two Americans started in bizarre fashion with five straight breaks of serve before Pegula finally ironed out some issues to hold for a 4-2 lead.

Gauff did eventually hold to briefly stay in contention but was broken for a fourth time when her fifth double fault of the opener gifted a 35-minute set to Pegula.

The Roland-Garros champion is renowned for her fighting qualities and immediately responded to break and claim a 2-0 lead early in the second.

Gauff maintained her break advantage but twice blinked serving for the set, double faulting three times in a row to allow Pegula to somehow reach a tie-break.

However, it was the 31-year-old underdog who fluffed her lines with a forehand long at 4-4 in the breaker that allowed Gauff to go on and clinch it by a 7-4 scoreline.

Pegula recovered in a cagey start to the third set and broke with a stunning crosscourt pass to pave the way towards a 4-2 advantage.

This time there would be no recovery from Gauff who threw down her 17th double fault of the match as her opponent broke again before serving out the victory.

It’s all over!

Pegula lands the mini upset as she serves out to 15 to kick off the WTA Finals with an impressive win.

The reigning champion Gauff has it all to do if she's to extend her defence beyond the round robin stage.

Gauff can’t stay close as a 17th double fault of the match tees up another BP for Pegula.

The third seed can’t come up clutch either as a wild backhand into the net gifts Jess the insurance.

Pegula stays patient with Gauff rushing the net and produces a clever, low backhand attempt down the line that’s too tricky to get back.

It paves the way for a hold to 30 as the fifth seed consolidates when a Coco forehand flies long.

Wow.

Jess knocks on the door and smashes it open at the second attempt as she zaps away a brilliant crosscourt pass to make the first move in this third set.

Jpeg unloads a blistering wrong-footing forehand to provider her own show of resistance and grit out a hold from deuce to leave us guessing as to who will eventually come out on top here.

Pegula digs in on the return and resists throughout a pulsating rally to force a forehand error long and make deuce.

Gauff has thrown in some howlers in this match and there’s another here as she completely misses the ball mid-court.

The third seed resets with a clinical smash but is beaten again by Jpeg’s scrambling as the older American comes up with a crosscourt backhand pass on the run.

Gauff hangs tough and swats away the second BP before completing the rescue-act to cling on to the early scoreboard advantage in this decider.

Ouch, that's a real 'sorry, not sorry' moment right there.

Gauff dominates with some aggressive returning but gets a huge slice of luck on the first of two break points when a dead net cord off a crosscourt forehand that earns her parity on the board.

A delicious backhand volley conjures up an instant opportunity to break for Pegula but she can’t control one down low to her left a moment later and Coco drags herself to deuce.

The third seed struggles to wriggle clear and a magnificent all-court rally ends with Jpeg thundering a crosscourt backhand pass via a lick of the tape.

It proves to be key as Gauff again buckles on a BP with yet another double fault.

We are going the distance!

Pegula sizzles a mid-court forehand long at 4-4 and it allows Coco to pull clear and seal the breaker by a 7-4 scoreline.

Coco lets a 3-1 lead slip as Pegula pops away a delicious volley and then snares an early mini break back with a rocket return down the line.

Gauff reaches high into the air to almost squash-shot a smash and steady the ship at 30-30 with Pegula again searching for the break back.

This time it’s Jess who snatches at a backhand attempt down the line, but she stays alive as Coco inexplicably double faults three times in a row to allow Pegula the gift of a place in a breaker.

Pegula comes up with a timely first serve to help her race back from 0-30 down but Gauff conjures up a pair of rasping crosscourt backhand winners to immediately regain the ascendancy.

The defending champion will now serve for the set for a second time.

Gauff opens with a shanked forehand high into the sky and it gets tricky from there.

Pegula shows supreme wheels to hustle hard at her baseline before earning a pair of break points with a stunning crosscourt backhand pass on the run.

Coco can’t handle the heat this time and a double fault compounds her misery.

All square!

Pegula butchers a routine 1-2 punch into the net but targets the Gauff forehand to lure an error long and make Pulp (30-30).

Coco keeps the heat on at deuce but a clutch serve down the T means she survives and gives herself one last shot at breaking back in this second set.

Gauff stumbles into a backhand from the forecourt and balloons it way off court.

She can’t quite believe it, but needs another reset as Pegula shows her how to do it with a charge forward and lovely, flicked forehand pass to pose a question at 15-30.

Coco does retort with a clinical crosscourt backhand winner and the now firing first serve helps her navigate the choppy waters to move a game from forcing a third set.

Pegula opens with her own ace and doesn’t look back, racing through a clean hold to stay on Coco’s heels.

Gauff gets angry with a shocker of a forehand into the net and responds with a pair of thunderbolt aces.

The defending champion again demonstrates her counter-punching brilliance with a backhand that licks the back of the baseline and she remains on course to force a decider via this hold to 15.

Pegula stays in touch as she finally makes one of a succession of forehand volleys count.

It seals the hold to 15 but it could have been different had Coco’s mid-range crosscourt forehand not clipped the tape and flown off the island.

The Gauff forehand falters with a loopy error wide to offer up two break points after yet another double fault had put Pegula in the ascendancy.

The fifth seed makes a mess of a smash long to  miss out on her first opportunity and is the undone by a wonderful, defensive counter punch from Coco, low at her baseline.

Gauff nails a second ace of the game to take control at deuce before a sizzling body serve seals the recovery and keeps her in charge.