Coco Gauff needed two hours and 39 minutes to beat Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 in the opening round-robin match at the WTA Finals in Indian Wells, a result that gives her the head-to-head lead for the first time at 6-5.
The match turned on a few moments of resilience. Gauff, seeded fourth, saved a 0-40 deficit at 4-4 in the first set and then won eight of the next nine points. In the second, Pegula served for the set twice and held three set points at 5-4 before Gauff took six games in a row and reached match point at 6-5. Pegula saved it and forced the decider, but her own assessment after the match was blunt: the length of the second set cost her energy she could not recover.
"Having to get me to work to win that set 7-6 instead of 6-1 or 6-2 or 6-3 definitely didn't bode well for me going into the third," Pegula said. She described the contest against Gauff as a constant balancing act between aggression and overplaying, and said the physical nature of the rallies was not in her favour.
Gauff credited preparation away from the court for her stamina, and said her composure was the larger difference. "I didn't get too high or get too low," she told reporters, adding that she was able to reset after losing the match point.
The week had carried an off-court storyline. A practice-court microphone picked up Pegula and coach Mark Knowles discussing Mirra Andreeva, and fans criticised Pegula's remarks. Gauff said Pegula had approached her before she had seen the clip and had apologised, and that she did not hold it against her.
Gauff next plays reigning Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova on Tuesday, in a round-robin match where she leads their head-to-head 2-1.
