Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula are STUNNED in French Open women’s doubles semifinal as North American rivals dump them in straight sets
- Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula entered the competition as heavy favorites and number 2
- Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend defeated their rivals in straight sets
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Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula have been ejected from the semifinals of the French Open women’s doubles after being thrashed 6-0, 6-4 by Leylah Fernandez and Taylor Townsend at Roland Garros.
The Canadian-American coupleseeded 10th, will face unseeded Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Wang Xinyu of China in Sunday’s final. Hsieh and Wang upset sixth-seeded Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
Gauff and Pegula, the No. 2 seeds, placed second in women’s doubles at Roland Garros last year, where the Americans lost to Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.
The 37-year-old Hsieh is a four-time Grand Slam doubles champion. Hsieh and Peng Shuai won the women’s doubles title at the 2014 French Open.
It will be Fernandez’s first doubles Grand Slam final, the 2021 US Open singles runner-up.
Coco Gauff didn’t look as usual when the high-profile No. 2 seeds were dumped
Leylah Fernandez (left) looks elated as she and Taylor Townsend win the semifinals
The winning pair, from Canada and the US, celebrate beating their North American rivals
Pegula (left) and Gauff both underperformed at Roland Garros over a difficult two weeks
Townsend, in her only other grand final, came second to Caty McNally at the US Open last year to Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.
The big loss marks the end of a disappointing French Open campaign for Pegula and Gauff, who were both dumped from the women’s singles earlier than expected.
No. No. 6 seed Gauff made it to the quarterfinals before her straight-set loss to top seed Iga Swiatek, while No. 3 seed Pegula was thrashed by No. 28 seed Elise Mertens in the third round.
Pegula was also the top seed in mixed doubles with Austin Krajicek, but they were defeated in a deciding set in the first round of the tournament by unseeded French pair Albano Olivetti and Elixane Lechemia.