Miami (USA) – The strong North American partnership of Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula won the doubles title at the WTA 1000 in Miami this Sunday. This is the fifth tournament they have won playing together and the third at the 1000 level. Gauff and Pegula beat two left-handers in the final, Canadian Leylah Fernandez and fellow host Taylor Townsend, 7/6 (8-6) and 6/2 at 1h25 departure.

Gauff and Pegula had already won the WTA 1000 in Doha and Toronto last year. Also in 2022, they won a 500 in San Diego. Already this year once again conquered the Doha tournament, but at the 500 level. At 29, Pegula now has seven professional doubles titles on the tour, while former doubles No. 1 Coco Gauff has eight titles at 19. This is the first time since 1991 that an all-American duo has won in Miami.

Feel the love in the 305 ☀️@CocoGauff And @JLPegula overtake Townsend/Fernandez for the doubles title!#MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/NuYLLLLPU1

– wta (@WTA) April 2, 2023

“This tournament is one of those tournaments that you grow up watching, and I think it’s even more special than some of the other 1,000s we’ve won. To do this in front of our family means a lot,” Coco Gauff told the press conference.

The young American recalled the double turn exceeded last friday and improving the home stretch of the tournament. “I’m even happier that we got that result, especially when we were in the quarter-finals, it didn’t look like we would be in that position, but we held on. Today, honestly, I don’t think that we could have played a better game.”

*insert school* please excuse Cameron Gauff as he was watching his big sister on the big stage 🤗@CocoGauff | #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/meka45nMGx

– wta (@WTA) April 2, 2023

In turn, Pegula underlined the difficulty of facing two lefties. “It’s difficult to play against two left-handers. We’ve faced some of them in the last few games, but the ball came in a different way. We knew it would be difficult and I think we were able to adapt a bit to time to dominate the game. When we started putting more returns on the pitch, we started putting a lot more pressure on their serve.”

Finalists Townsend and Fernandez, meanwhile, were looking for their first WTA 1000. The American has three professional doubles titles on the circuit, including one with Brazilian Luísa Stefani earlier this year in Adelaide. Canadian Fernandez, meanwhile, is 20 and has won only one doubles title, also in January this year, but in Auckland.

2023 Indian wells: R16
Miami Open 2023: Finalists@TaylorTownsend X @leylahfernandez pic.twitter.com/gh8DmKwR35

– wta (@WTA) April 2, 2023

Gauff and Pegula had three breaks in the game and lost just one service game on Sunday. The first set lasted almost an hour and a break on each side. Townsend and Fernandez served to close leading 6/5 and had a set point, but Gauff and Pegula returned the break and won the tiebreak split.

The North Americans dominated the second set, with further breaks and escaping a break point to win five games in a row. Highlight for Pegula’s excellent performance in long-distance rallies. In the penultimate game of the match, Taylor Townsend managed to confirm the serve, but the victory would be confirmed in the next match. Three services of the world number 3 did not even return. On match point, she was traded with Fernandez, Gauff brought the rivals to the net and an error from the Canadian defined the game.