"Getting rid of steam from singles" - Coco Gauff aims to redirect energy from Australian Open singles loss by making doubles semifinal with Pegula

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are through to the women’s doubles semifinals of the 2023 Australian Open.

In their quarterfinal encounter, the American duo were up against the Taiwanese-Chinese pair of Hao-ching Chan and Zhaoxuan Yang. Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, who are seeded second, scored a dominant straight-sets victory over the 11th seed, conceding a mere two games, with the score reading 6-1 6-1.

After their triumph, Jessica Pegula shared one of the duo's well-executed points during one of their service games, which concluded with Coco Gauff hitting the winner. The World No. 3 further proclaimed the 18-year-old as the “Most Valuable Player” of the day.

"MVP today, Coco Gauff," Jessica Pegula wrote.

In response, Gauff jokingly suggested that she was channeling all her energy into their doubles run to cope with her heartbreaking singles loss to 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round of the Australian Open.

"Hahaha. Getting rid of of steam from singles," the World No. 7 responded.

The American duo will face off against tenth-seeded Japanese duo Ena Shibahara and Shuko Aoyama on Friday.