Jessica Pegula recently shed light on her partnership with Tommy Paul, as they bowed out of the Eisenhower Cup, an exhibition event ahead of the Indian Wells Open, after a first-round defeat to Mirra Andreeva and Alexander Bublik. Despite this, the world No. 5 has shown impressive form at the WTA 1000 tournament, advancing to the round of 16 in singles.
Jessica Pegula Unveils the Reason Why She Won’t Be Pairing Up With Tommy Paul After the Eisenhower Cup
Pegula entered Indian Wells riding the momentum from her title win at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championship, where she defeated Elina Svitolina in straight sets in the final round. After skipping the ATX Open due to a left knee injury, she returned to action at the BNP Paribas Open as the fifth seed.
Before her Indian Wells title run at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Pegula participated in the Eisenhower Cup, a mixed doubles Tie Break Tens exhibition with Paul. Their partnership, however, ended with a close 11-9 loss to Andreeva and Bublik in the first round, dashing their hopes of the $200k prize.
Reflecting on their partnership at the Eisenhower Cup and this year’s early exit, Pegula joked that it might be better if they did not team up again. While recalling Paul’s past limitations and successes at the event, and also sharing her admiration, Pegula added, “Tommy’s great. Love Tommy. I think we all love Tommy here. He is a lot of fun. Good energy. But I think we might be done. I don’t know if we’re meant to play mixed together.”
She continued highlighting Paul’s exasperation on “The Player’s Box Podcast”: “He was a little distraught because, besides making the one year, the finals with Madi, he’s lost the first round the three other years. Two of them with me. One, I think with Sloane (Stephens), he said, and then he also came from the MGM slam thing. It was a 10-point tiebreaker tournament, and he lost the first round there, and he said he got killed like 10-3 by Fritz. So, he’s just like, “I just really want to win these 10-point tiebreakers. I’m so sick of losing these.”
Furthermore, Pegula shared the ATP star’s frustration at having to remain at the tournament after an early defeat. She explained, “And he was so upset and I was like, “Dude, it’s fine.” But, I mean, those events are fun. It’s obviously not as fun when you lose first round, and you’re kind of supposed to stay throughout the entire rest of it.”
Shifting focus to her on-court efforts, Pegula is set to face Belinda Bencic in the round of 16, a challenging opponent who has won their last four matches.
