Gauff Beats Pegula in Three Sets to Open WTA Finals at Indian Wells

No. 4 seed Coco Gauff beat No. 5 seed Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 on Sunday in the opening round robin match of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells, California. The match between the two Americans lasted 2 hours and 39 minutes, and Gauff had to recover from a deep second set hole before she closed out the win in a deciding third set.

A second set that nearly slipped away

Gauff took the first set 6-4 and looked in control of the opener, but Pegula turned the second set sharply in her favour. Gauff fell behind 5-1 in that set and stood close to losing it quickly. She saved three set points, then won five games in a row to move ahead 6-5 and reach the brink of a straight sets win.

Pegula refused to let the match end there. She saved a match point in the 12th game of the set, held on to force a tiebreak, and took the tiebreak to level the match at one set each. A match that Gauff had nearly finished in two sets was suddenly going to a third, with the momentum shifting back and forth across a long afternoon in Indian Wells.

Break points decide the decider

The numbers explain how tight the contest stayed even as the sets swung. Gauff saved 7 of the 11 break points she faced across the match. At the other end, she broke Pegula seven times in 16 chances, a return rate that kept pressure on the Pegula serve in all three sets.

That pressure told early in the decider. Gauff led 3-0 in the third set and held that advantage through to the end, closing out the set 6-2. The win was her third straight victory over Pegula, and it was also her 48th win of the 2026 season, a mark that underlines the form she has carried into the season ending event.

Highest seed in Group 1 after Rybakina withdrawal

Gauff is the highest seeded player in Group 1 at this year end event. World No. 1 Elena Rybakina withdrew from the tournament with a viral illness, which left Gauff at the top of the seeding list in the group. Rybakina was replaced by Marta Kostyuk, who holds the No. 9 seed.

In the other Group 1 opener, Czech eighth seed Linda Noskova beat Kostyuk 6-2, 6-4. That result means Gauff and Noskova both opened their group campaigns with wins on Sunday, while Pegula and Kostyuk will need results in their remaining round robin matches to recover ground in Group 1.

Group 2 opens on Monday

Group 2 brings together Aryna Sabalenka, Mirra Andreeva, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Muchova. Two matches from that group are scheduled for Monday, with Sabalenka against Muchova and Andreeva against Svitolina.

For Gauff, the opener is done and the points from a hard win are banked. She beat a fellow American and a top five seed, survived losing a set she had led late, and finished the match in control. Pegula leaves the court with a loss, but with the fightback in the second set as proof she pushed the highest seed left in her group all the way across 2 hours and 39 minutes.