Jessica Pegula has become one of the best servers on the WTA Tour, and can serve as a great inspiration for Coco Gauff.
Pegula’s service numbers are up across the board compared to last season, with the American averaging four more aces per match.
That is in stark contrast to her compatriot, with Gauff continuing her double fault struggles at the Miami Open this year.
Gauff’s serve has constantly let her down in the big moments, although the WTA superstar has still managed to achieve huge success.
But Pegula has undoubtedly been the standout American player in 2026 so far, epitomised by her superb title-winning run in Dubai, with her serve playing a key role in her success.
Which Grand Slam is Jessica Pegula most likely to win?
Coco Gauff can take inspiration from Jessica Pegula’s serving improvement
Explaining exactly how she has improved in that area, Pegula told Tennis Channel after reaching the Miami Open round of 16: “It’s been a long process honestly.
“I changed my motion almost a couple of years ago now, right before I started working with both of the Marks (Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein).
“It’s just been a process of finding like that range. It’s not the same as when I first changed it. It’s kind of a hybrid in between, but it’s just getting a feel for different spins, how to hit different serves.
“Just honestly, it’s a lot of just hours on the practice court and just getting a feel for the serve and different spins and different spots.
“And it’s kind of evolved where I feel like I’ve gotten better at one or two serves. And then slowly we’ve implemented like more of the kick and more of like a cutter slice and then a hard slice and it’s just evolved and it’s just a lot of work.
“But yeah, I definitely owe my coaches a lot of credit, especially Mark Merklein. We’ve worked a lot. He’s the one that’s here with me in Boca. We’ve spent a lot of time on the serve.”
It’s clearly a long process that involves a lot of hard work, but Gauff can definitely take inspiration from Pegula if she wants to improve her serve.
Fortunately, at the age of 22 the former has a lot of time on her hands, with the latter seemingly finding the right formula only by the age of 32.
She certainly won’t have the exact same issues that Pegula had, but Gauff would definitely be wise to follow in the footsteps of her fellow American.
It would be an arduous but worthwhile commitment, with the more experienced player leading the youngster in every single service area this season.
| Jessica Pegula | Coco Gauff | |
| 86 | Aces | 21 |
| 29 | Double faults | 120 |
| 62.6% | 1st serve % | 61.7% |
| 70.0% | 1st serve won % | 67.8% |
| 50.7% | 2nd serve won % | 37.5% |
| 56.8% | Break points saved | 50.0% |
| 62.8% | Service points won % | 56.2% |
| 78.1% | Service games won % | 63.3% |
| 187 | Service games played | 158 |
Jessica Pegula pleased with ‘smart’ win over Leylah Fernandez
Both Pegula and Gauff have battled into the round of 16 at the Miami Open, where they are joined by Amanda Anisimova and Hailey Baptiste.
Pegula takes on Jaqueline Cristian following her win over Leylah Fernandez, of which she said: “I feel like I changed up a few things that I had an idea of from the last few times I played her where we’ve had some really tough matches.
“I feel like maybe she started off a little slow as well, but I do feel like some of the things that I changed actually really helped and didn’t quite let her get into a rhythm.
“But obviously I still have to execute those things. I thought I served pretty well, I served my way out of that game in the second set.
“That could have been really tricky if she would have broken me back. So yeah, I just think I played really smart.”
Prove us wrong…
Gauff meets Sorana Cirstea at the same stage, with Anisimova taking on Belinda Bencic and Baptiste playing against Jelena Ostapenko.
The Miami Open fans will be desperate for a home champion, with Pegula having extra motivation in that regard after losing last year’s final to Aryna Sabalenka.
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