Jessica Pegula plans to do something different when she returns to action after winning the Charleston Open

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Jessica Pegula is due to be back on court this week following her Charleston Open victory.

The 31-year-old clinched the eighth title of her career by defeating compatriot Sofia Kenin to clinch the title.

Pegula has now overtaken Coco Gauff in the WTA Tour rankings to become America’s top-ranked woman.

Speaking of her nation, Jessica Pegula is due to represent her country this week, and she will do so with a twist.

Jessica Pegula set to play her next two tournaments without a coach

Pegula has lost one of her last 11 matches across the Miami Open and the Charleston Open.

She reached the Miami Open final but she lost to World number one Aryna Sabalenka, which was the third successive final in which Pegula came up short against the Belarusian.

Pegula rebounded from this defeat by winning the Charleston Open title for the first time and now she plans to fly to Europe to represent the USA in the Billie Jean King Cup.

She is planning to play at the Stuttgart Open after, and Pegula is considering doing so without her coaches Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein.

“As of right now, yes, I’m planning to go. Flying to Slovakia on Tuesday which is going to be tough,” Pegula told the WTA website.

“Honestly, I love team sports, and I’m going into the next few weeks not too seriously. Maybe take a breather, try to have fun with the team, try to get the win but not going to take a coach to BJK or Stuttgart, probably.

“Try to have a little bit of a more relaxed couple of weeks. I want to win and play some good tennis, enjoying it a little bit more.”

Jessica Pegula overtakes Coco Gauff in the WTA rankings

Pegula’s Charleston Open victory and Miami Open final appearance helped her rise to number three in the world.

This has taken her one spot higher than Coco Gauff, and Pegula is now the highest-ranked American woman on the tour.

Pegula’s results have coincided with Gauff’s poor results since her back-to-back defeats in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

The 20-year-old only managed round of 16 appearances in Indian Wells and Miami, and she has work to do to try and regain the ranking from her compatriot and former doubles partner.