Jessica Pegula ends highly successful coaching collaboration with David Witt

The American has won all four of her career titles under the mentorship of Witt, with a career-best ranking of No 3 in the world also reached during his tenure

Jessica Pegula answers questions at US Open Media Day 2023 Zuma / Panoramic

Jamie Malachy

February 7, 2024

Jessica Pegula has ended her coaching relationship with David Witt, after a highly successful five-year partnership between the pair.

Pegula instigated the change, telling Witt of her decision around two weeks ago – shortly after her second-round exit at the Australian Open – before he then broke the news publicly earlier this week.

While the split clearly came as an unwanted surprise to Witt, his departure appeared largely amicable and he thanked Pegula for the time they had spent working together.

“It was a total surprise to me. Never saw it coming.” Witt said of Pegula’s decision.

“We’ve had a great friendship for five years, so it’s very tough,” he continued.

“I really value my relationship with my player just as much as I love coaching. It’s a tough business. I’ve been pretty lucky that I’ve only been with two players the last 15 years.”

witt guides pegula to career-best success

Witt coached Venus Williams before starting work with Pegula in 2019 in what became a highly fruitful partnership.

When Witt joined up with the American, she had yet to crack the top 75 in the world rankings and was without a WTA tour-level title to her name.

Pegula won her maiden title at the Citi Open in what was her first tournament under the mentorship of Witt.

Five years later, and the Buffalo native has firmly established herself among the WTA’s elite, becoming a mainstay figure within the top 5 as well as adding three more titles to her resume and reaching six Grand Slam quarter-finals.

The apex of the pair’s time together was Pegula reaching a career-high ranking of No 3 in the world and claiming her first 1000-level title at the Guadalajara Open in 2022, both of which helped Witt win WTA Coach of the Year.

Pegula wins first 1000-level tournament at 2022 Guadalajara Open

However, her inability to yet move past the last eight at a major in half a dozen attempts may well have indicated to Pegula that she had reached a ceiling to what she could achieve with her current coaching set-up, successful as it had been.

“You just never know how high a player can go,” Witt said.

“Me as a coach, I go into it thinking I’m going to try to get the best out the player that I’m working with. I think we’ve done that.

“She’s obviously knocking on the door. 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.”

witt ready for next challenge as pegula moves on

Witt went on to say that he is already on the market for another coaching partnership, and is relishing another challenge in what has so far been a thoroughly impressive coaching career.

“I love coaching, I love being out on the tour, helping someone—whether that’s a male or a female,” Witt revealed.

“I’m looking for the next challenge, the next person that wants to work hard, set goals, grow and succeed.”

As the coaching carousel continues to spin regularly across both the ATP and WTA tours, it would be of little surprise to see a man of Witt’s talents back in the box of a big-name player sooner rather than later.