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World number three Pegula and number six Gauff
arrived in New York having won WTA 1000 titles to spark hopes of
a first American women's major champion since Sofia Kenin lifted
the trophy at the 2020 Australian Open.
Pegula cruised to a 6-2 6-2 opening win over Camila Giorgi on
Tuesday - a day after Gauff rallied to beat Laura Siegemund -
and the 29-year-old said that she did not mind the focus being
on her frequent doubles partner at the tournament.
"I don't know. Maybe it's good," Pegula said with a smile. "Coco
can take it, that pressure, not me. I don't know. I mean, I
don't mind. She's been winning a lot. I think she deserves a lot
of that attention.
"She's obviously very young. She's been playing really well.
She's super electric to watch, loves the crowd and New York. No,
I don't really have a preference. Either way I think I want to
continue to win matches and do the best that I can.
"It's nice that even though I'm the top American, I can't
imagine carrying a ton of pressure if it was only me. It's nice
that there are a lot of us that are doing well and that have
chances to go deep here."
Pegula said the current crop of U.S. women's players - 13 of
whom are in the top 100 - were genuine friends and driving each
other towards success, just like their male colleagues.
"I think we've embraced the fact that though we're all competing
for rankings and tournaments ... even if you play each other you
want to beat each other, you're pushing each other at the same
time," Pegula said.
"I think that's something the guys are doing well with (Taylor)
Fritz, (Tommy) Paul, (Frances) Tiafoe. You see them pushing each
other and they're all going higher and higher."
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; editing by Robert
Birsel)
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