The Odd Couple, Jessica Pegula and Frances Tiafoe, head to Melbourne with major inspiration

With a new tennis season comes…a new comedy duo?

Tiafoe & Pegula. Pegula & Tiafoe. The latter has more of a ring to it, in my opinion. Either way you say it, though, these two Americans were the surprise odd-couple hit of the United Cup interview room in Sydney last week.

When the dual-gender team event was first announced, many of us looked forward to seeing the men and women cheer each other on in singles, and compete on the same side of the court in doubles. But the post-match banter between the 28-year-old Buffalonian and the 24-year-old Marylander—they’ve been friends “for a year and change,” according to Tiafoe—turned out to be just as entertaining.

Anyone who knows their reputations will know that they have a built-in personality contrast. Not surprisingly, Pegula plays the role of the taskmaster in their exchanges, and Tiafoe plays the free spirit.

After the two teamed up in mixed doubles to complete a 5-0 win over Germany, Tiafoe was asked whether he was thinking about the sweep while they were on court, and whether it mattered to him.

“He didn’t even know!” Pegula interjected, to laughter from the press. “I knew. It was very important. I kept trying to tell him. I’m not sure if he, like, grasped the concept…”

“Jess has been on me since 8 a.m. this morning,” a mock-weary Tiafoe said in reply, repeating her mantra that “every match counts.”

“I have,” Pegula admitted.

Another day, after the two won their singles matches against Poland, they were asked about a game of Escape Room that Pegula had organized for the team, and that the women had won over the men.

“Guys are so salty they lost; it’s like, it’s real,” Pegula teased, while also mentioning that Tiafoe was more punctual for the Escape Room than he was for the team’s practices.

“Jess hurt our team-building yesterday after that,” Tiafoe teased back. “Both the guys and the girls were getting pretty heated there at the end.”

In a brief fit of earnestness, Tiafoe said that practicing with Pegula for a week had helped raise “my level to a whole new level.” But he wasted no time putting his tongue back in his cheek.

“I think the Australian Open is probably my last event,” Tiafoe deadpanned. “I’m just going to be following Jess Pegula around.”

Personality-wise, Pegula and Tiafoe do make for an unlikely pair. But as 2023 begins, they find themselves at similar stages of their playing lives.

Both reached career-high rankings in 2022—Tiafoe at No. 17, Pegula at a stratospheric No. 3. Both went farther than they ever had at their home Slam in New York—Pegula lost to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals; Tiafoe did the same to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals. After some rocky patches, both have clicked with a coach who has found the key to maximizing their talents—Pegula with David Witt, Tiafoe with Wayne Ferreira.

Tiafoe went 5-0 in United Cup. While there will be plenty of people ahead of him in the list of favorites in Melbourne, including his teammate Taylor Fritz, Alcaraz’s withdrawal will help Tiafoe for two reasons: (1) He won’t have to face the Spaniard; (2) More importantly, Tiafoe will move up to No. 16 in the seedings, which means he won’t see a higher-ranked opponent until the fourth round. In the past year, Tiafoe has shown that he can hit and run with anyone, and that being an entertainer doesn’t have to come at the expense of his results.

“I'm playing some of the best tennis of my life right now, having a great time on court,” Tiafoe says. “I’m just really enjoying myself.

“Obviously I’m a different personality, trying to change as I get older, but I’m still trying to be me at the same time.”

Yet it’s Pegula who likely has the bigger dreams in Melbourne. In the most eye-opening scoreline of the United Cup, she “gave an absolute lesson”—as Tiafoe put it—to Swiatek, the tour's clear-cut No. 1, 6-2, 6-2. The level-headed Pegula downplayed the match’s significance a bit, reminding us that the quick courts favored her, and that Swiatek had just flown into Sydney the previous day. But after four straight-set losses to Swiatek in 2022, including two at the majors, there was no denying that this was a cathartic win for the American. It had the feel of an opening salvo in what could be a season-long rivalry.

“Jess came out and played unbelievable,” Witt said. “We’ve been working on a lot of things, and a lot of the things paid off today.”

I think the Australian Open is probably my last event. I’m just going to be following Jess Pegula around. Frances Tiafoe

The upshot—and possible downside—to all of this is that Pegula will face the highest expectations of her career next week. The woman who beat her in Melbourne last year, Ash Barty, has retired. So has Serena Williams. Two-time Australian Open champ Naomi Osaka has pulled out. But even as those WTA stars have fallen by the wayside, Pegula, who has missed significant time with injuries in the past, is relishing the chance for a fresh start in 2023. She says that while her own expectations have shifted, she’s not going to try to match everything she did last season.

“I feel like I have different goals this year,” Pegula says. “I feel like I kind of am resetting this year, because it’s a new year and you never know what’s going to happen, and you never know how you’re going to feel. It’s just a totally different type of challenges and goals than I had last year.”

Pegula, whose parents own the NFL's Buffalo Bills, has already experienced a shock in 2023. She was watching the team play the Cincinnati Bengals on her phone during the United Cup when the Bills’ Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and was rushed off the field in an ambulance.

“I felt sick,” Pegula says. “I don’t know him personally. I don’t think I’ve ever actually met him. But obviously with the teams and everything, it’s like family.”

As she plays in Melbourne, Pegula will be following the Bills through their playoff run, which begins this weekend. Will she be able to divorce herself from the team’s results? Last January, the Bills lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs; a few hours later, Pegula walked out and lost her quarterfinal to Barty, 6-2, 6-0.

This year, Pegula says she’ll take what inspiration she can from Hamlin.

“I didn’t realize that I’m ranked No. 3 in the world, and he’s also No. 3,” Pegula said. “Sometimes the world is weird that way.”

Tiafoe, naturally, couldn’t let that pass without comment.

“That’s crazy,” he told Pegula. Then he paused for a beat:

“Too bad you’re going to be No. 1 in the world soon.”