‘It sucked’ – Pegula & Musetti put friendships aside to progress

Lorenzo Musetti and Jessica Pegula both acknowledged it “sucked,” but neither player was able to stop their doubles partners from achieving success at the Australian Open.

In just 58 minutes, world number six Pegula defeated fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-3, 6-3, and 6-4, while fifth seed Musetti defeated McCartney Kessler 6-0, 6-0, and 6-0.

Pegula and her American counterpart Kessler lost to Luisa Stefani and Gabriela Dabrowski, both of whom won doubles at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.

Musetti and Sonego also won the Hong Kong Open doubles title earlier in January.

When you have to play with someone you know, like, and doubles with, Pegula, 31, said, “It’s always challenging.”

Pegula and Kessler had been unable to connect sooner due to a previous “miscommunication.”

We have made numerous attempts to pair up for doubles. We also play each other in the following round of singles, Pegula said, “Once we are actually ready to play, we also play each other.”

“We tried to play together, and we made a lot of mistakes. I once believed we had signed up for a tournament, but we didn’t. We entered [the draw], but we didn’t get in in Brisbane.

Pegula predominated when the two faced off on opposite ends of the net. She won 73% of her first serve points, fired in 18 winners, and made just seven unforced errors.

Although the scoreline suggested Musetti would have a simple day, he insisted that it was anything but.

He and Sonego had previously faced each other twice in a Grand Slam, but this was their first encounter and the result was a doubles victory.

Musetti continued, “It was not an easy match against one of my best friends on tour.”

We had many pleasant memories, she said. It’s difficult to separate those things.