Jessica Pegula, ranked World No. 4 in tennis, has unexpectedly ended her five-year coaching relationship with David Witt. The announcement came as a surprise, especially to Witt, who did not see the breakup coming.
“It was a total surprise to me. Never saw it coming. We’ve had a great friendship for five years, so it’s very tough,” Witt told tennis.com, as reported via Reuters. “She’s obviously knocking on the door of winning a major. Our goals were to win a Grand Slam. Obviously, that was cut short, didn’t get to accomplish that, but I think everything else has been awesome.”
The termination follows Pegula’s early exit from the Australian Open, where she was defeated in the second round by Clara Burel. Following this, Pegula also withdrew from the doubles event, where she was set to play with Coco Gauff.
Under Witt’s coaching, Pegula achieved remarkable success, climbing from a ranking of 76th to breaking into the top 10. She won her first WTA title in Washington in 2019 and reached the quarterfinals in three of the four major tournaments in 2022. Her career, significantly shaped by Witt’s coaching, saw her reaching the Australian Open quarterfinals three times in a row. She secured four singles and seven doubles victories on the WTA Tour, including two titles at the WTA 1000 level.
“The hard work she put in and we put in, that was something to remember,” Witt said.
“I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve only been with two players the last 15 years,” added Witt, who also coached Venus Williams.
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