FORT WORTH—Jessica Pegula let out a comic sigh when asked what teenaged doubles partner Coco Gauff has taught her after a wildly successful season saw the two make WTA Finals debuts in both disciplines.
“A lot of TikTok,” joked the 28-year-old of the 18-year-old Gauff, who boasts just under 200K followers on the platform that defines Gen Z with a blend of skits, moves, and trendy sounds.
The extremely online Gauff admits the hobby sometimes leaves Pegula lost in translation.
“It’s more just sounds,” she explained on Media Day. “Sometimes the conversation relates to certain sounds. I’ll say them and she’ll look at me and say, ‘What?’
“I’m, like, ‘You’ve never seen that?’ She’s, like, ‘No.’
“Then I feel like, Damn, okay,’” she adds with a laugh. “Then it becomes awkward.
“We don’t really notice the age difference until, you know, certain conversations come up. It’s definitely a generation divide.”