Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff
Top seeds Pegula and Gauff will face the pair of Sanders/Mertens in the women’s doubles final of the Italian Open
Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff form a strong doubles pair and they have already won two WTA doubles titles this year – the Qatar Open and the Miami Open. Pegula and Gauff complement each other’s playing style very well and it shows in their recent results. The American duo finished runners-up in their last event – the Madrid Open and will now look to go a step higher in Rome.
They began their campaign at the Italian Open with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Kalashnikova/Sizikova and followed it up with another impressive victory against Melichar/Panova. The American duo defeated sixth seeds Shibahara/Aoyama in the next round before registering a hard-fought win against No.3 seeds Krawczyk/Schuurs in the semis. They are coming into the final as favourites but there is certainly no room for complacency.
Storm Sanders and Elise Mertens are seasoned doubles players and have been in good touch this season. They are seeded No.4 in Rome and have dropped just one set during their run up to the final.
In the Semi-finals, they put up a stunning display to beat Bouzkova/Mattek-Sands in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. They are now set to face the toughest challenge in the women’s doubles circuit, but the pair certainly have the ability to pull off a major upset against the No.1 seeds.
Date – Saturday, 20th May
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – 10:30 pm IST
Location – Foro Italico
Match details – Final
Pegula/Gauff and Sanders/Mertens have played each other thrice before on the WTA Tour. The American pair has the upper hand, having won two of the previous three encounters and thereby leads 2-1 head-to-head.
Their last encounter was played earlier this year in March and the Americans emerged victorious on that occasion. It’s a difficult match to call as both pairs are in good form and are pretty close in terms of rankings. We are predicting an intense encounter with Pegula/Gauff eventually coming out on top in three sets.
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