Coco Gauff has revealed that Jessica Pegula and her coach Mark Knowles both apologized to her following the hot mic controversy that erupted ahead of the WTA Finals at Indian Wells.
Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone after her 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 victory over Pegula on Sunday, as reported by The Athletic, Gauff explained that her compatriot had approached her before she had even seen the viral footage.
“No, I wasn’t really thinking. Jess, she told me — before I even saw the video, she came and apologised, immediately,” Gauff said when asked whether the controversy had been on her mind.
Gauff also confirmed that Knowles had personally apologized, and made it clear that the incident had not damaged her relationship with Pegula.
“But I know her heart, and it was all good,” she said.
Gauff’s revelation is an indication of the stress that Pegula had to unecessarily endure after her conversation was captured by a hot mic and broadcast all over the internet. Damage control takes a toll.
“People are going to say what they’re going to say about what they think she should have said, shouldn’t have said,” said Madison Keys during Tennis Channel’s broadcast of Sunday’s match. “But I think the invasion of privacy, where you think you were having a private moment and it’s not, is probably the hardest thing to overcome.”
The controversy erupted when a private conversation between Pegula and Knowles was inadvertently broadcast during a practice session at Indian Wells, sparking widespread debate about player privacy.
“Inexcusable that that could happen, that the players have no idea that that was the case,” Lindsay Davenport, calling the match with Keys and Chanda Rubin, said. “Every single player is entitled to have private conversations with their team and their coach.
“Whenever you have to expend any amount of energy on outside controversies, it takes away from your focus on the tennis. And Jess is a good person, and to have to deal with that before such a huge tournament is honestly inexcusable and should never be the case, should never happen.”
Gauff’s victory in each player’s opening round-robin match improved her head-to-head record against Pegula to 6-5, including a perfect 3-0 mark in 2026. She also defeated Pegula in the Wimbledon quarterfinals and Cincinnati final earlier this season.
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