Gauff and Pegula open Wimbledon doubles account surviving only just as World No.1 hunt begins

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula began their quest for the world No. 1 ranking with a hard-fought victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Kamila Rakhimova at Wimbledon by 3-6, 7-5, 6-2.

For Jessica Pegula, this Grand Slam means more than just another tournament, as she has the opportunity to reach the world No. 1 ranking in doubles for the first time. The American duo has already won five trophies together, including three Masters 1000 titles and two WTA 500 titles, in addition to reaching the final at Roland Garros last year.

Both Gauff and Pegula have established themselves in the top 10 in singles over the past two years, and since teaming up for doubles, they have become one of the best pairs in the world.

The only team currently ranked higher than them in doubles is the Czech duo of Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova, who have won seven Grand Slam titles together, completing the career Grand Slam in doubles with victories at the French Open (2018, 2021), Australian Open (2022, 2023), Wimbledon (2018, 2022), and US Open (2022).

However, the American pair has the opportunity to surpass them as the top-ranked doubles team at this year's Wimbledon. In the race to the WTA Finals, Gauff and Pegula are nearly 2,000 points ahead of the Czech duo based on their performances in 2023 alone.

Unfortunately, Krejcikova and Siniakova were unable to play their first-round match at the All England Club due to Krejcikova's injury sustained during her singles match against Mirra Andreeva, preventing them from defending their title from last year.

This is a golden opportunity for Gauff and Pegula. If they become champions at SW19 or at least reach the final, they will surpass the Czech duo, displacing Katerina Siniakova from the world No. 1 ranking to world No. 3. Currently, Pegula has 90 more points than Gauff in doubles, which guarantees her the highest doubles ranking, while she is also ranked No. 3 in singles.

Gauff and Pegula faced a tough first-round match and came back from a set down against the team of Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus and Kamila Rakhimova from Russia. In the second round, they will face Anastasia Detiuc and Andra Gamiz.