Jessica Pegula’s impressive run at Wimbledon 2026 was halted by her compatriot Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, July 7. The fourth seed made a strong start, taking the opening set, but her 22-year-old opponent dominated the next two sets to complete a comeback victory.
Pegula, who was on the hunt for her first Grand Slam title at SW19, was left disappointed by the result and shared her feelings in her post-match press conference.
Jessica Pegula Opens Up About Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon Challenge
Pegula was the highest-ranked player remaining in the quarterfinal draw after the top three seeds — Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, and defending champion Iga Świątek — were eliminated in the early rounds. The American, who previously reached the final-eight stage in 2023, was fancying her chances of making her maiden semifinal at the tournament.
Pegula entered the match as the slight favorite against Gauff, buoyed by a 5-3 head-to-head advantage and a stronger record on grass. She made the perfect start by breaking serve in the opening game. Although she briefly surrendered the advantage, she broke back immediately to take the first set 6-4.
The two Americans went toe-to-toe in the second set until Gauff secured a crucial break of serve in the eighth game. She then served out the set 6-3 to force a decider.
The 22-year-old raised her level in the third set, breaking Pegula early before losing the advantage. Gauff, however, responded with two more breaks of serve to seal a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory.
In her press conference, Pegula said, “Tough one today. She played really well. I thought she ended up serving really well the last couple of sets, and I still had a lot of break points, a couple unlucky on some I felt in the second set. That definitely could have gone either way.”
Remembering her third set error, she added, “I fought back to break and then got broken right back. So that was a little frustrating, but I thought she played well. It was an intense match. Just disappointed, but I thought it was a good match.”
Pegula enjoyed a clear edge on return in the opening set, winning a significantly higher percentage of first- and second-serve return points than Gauff. However, that advantage faded in the second set as Pegula’s first-serve return numbers dipped, while Gauff’s steadily improved. By the decider, the latter had completely flipped the script, producing the stronger return statistics.
“She made me feel a little bit uncomfortable,” the 32-year-old said. “I thought I started off returning really well and put a lot of pressure on her serve right from the beginning. And then it just kind of flipped. I was maybe overthinking it a little bit and should have just trusted what I thought I should have done. Instead, I was getting caught and allowing her to get more freedom on her serve.”
Jessica Pegula’s run to the quarterfinals featured straight-set victories over Darja Vidmanova, Sara Sorribes Tormo, and Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro before she overcame fellow American Iva Jovic in three sets.
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Coco Gauff, by contrast, has taken a more arduous path through the draw but has found a way to come through each challenge. After a straight-set victory over Tamara Korpatsch, the two-time Grand Slam champion survived four consecutive three-set battles against Solana Sierra, Claire Liu, Belinda Bencic, and Pegula. She will now face Karolína Muchová for a place in her first Wimbledon final.
