Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, and Desirae Krawczyk, three of the co-hosts of “The Player’s Box” podcast, set out to make the most of their time in Rome by embarking on a gelato-tasting adventure. They did not undertake this project alone, roping in Coco Gauff, Ben Shelton, Frances Tiafoe, and several other American stars for the fun excursion amid the 2026 Italian Open.
How Jessica Pegula Responded to Coco Gauff’s Teasing Over Lack of Appearance Fees
The American tennis stars have often spoken about the close bond and camaraderie they share, which has been unaffected by their on-court rivalries. Their chemistry was on display in Rome as Madison Keys took over filming duties and captured the players hilariously rating the gelato flavors they picked.
Gauff, Shelton, and Tiafoe were joined by Hailey Baptiste, Iva Jovic, Caty McNally, and Asia Muhammad for the trip to Fiordiluna, organized by the podcast co-hosts. Tiafoe sparked laughter by wearing his sunglasses even though it was 9:30 p.m., prompting Gauff to jokingly compare him to LeBron James.
Before the group signed off, Gauff playfully asked whether they would receive an appearance fee for featuring in the podcast video.
“Do we get an appearance fee for this?” she asked.
However, the world No. 4’s request was quickly shut down by Krawczyk and Pegula in amusing fashion.
“We don’t have that kind of budget here,” Krawczyk said.
“We can all use all of our content for free. So nobody gets anything. You might get tagged on Instagram. That’s all you get,” Pegula said.
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Gauff doubled down on calling out the “crazy” lack of an appearance fee, joking that at least she got to meet LeBron James as compensation.
“No appearance fee is crazy,” Gauff commented.
“At least I got to hangout with Lebron tho,” she added.
In response, Pegula and Keys humorously reminded her that their budget didn’t stretch that far.
“@cocogauff not in the budget yet,” Pegula responded.
“Thx for helping and supporting our low budget podcast 🙏🏽,” Keys chimed in.
Keys also joined Amanda Anisimova in poking fun at Tiafoe. Although Anisimova is also in Rome, gearing up to make her return to the tour after an injury layoff, she was not present for the outing.
“@bigfoe1998 dying as always,” Anisimova wrote.
“@bigfoe1998 always sunny on planet cool,” Keys commented.
Tommy Paul, Emma Navarro, and Christopher Eubanks were also part of the excursion but did not participate in the gelato ratings.
On the tennis front, No. 3 seed Coco Gauff is set to face Tereza Valentová in her opening match at the Italian Open after receiving a first-round bye. No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula will lock horns with Zeynep Sönmez in the second round, while Madison Keys takes on fellow American Peyton Stearns.
On the men’s side, No. 5 seed Ben Shelton will kick off his campaign against the winner of the match between Nikoloz Basilashvili and Daniel Mérida. Frances Tiafoe awaits Lorenzo Sonego or Ignacio Buse in the second round, while Tommy Paul is slated to face Aleksandar Vukic.
