Victoria Azarenka and Jessica Pegula united for one last preseason practice session before Christmas.
Azarenka, a two-time Grand Slam champion, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a photo of them smiling just before practice at Woodfield Boca Raton in Florida.
The two WTA stars recently took part in the fourth annual tennis fundraiser – Baha Mar Cup – in the Bahamas, which was organized by the Baha Mar Resort Foundation and Mark Knowles (a former Bahamian tennis player).
Azarenka, Pegula, and a few other ATP and WTA stars, active and retired, took part in the cause by donating their time and helping raise over $120,000 about a fortnight ago.
With Azarenka and Pegula returning to the United States, they had one last hitting session on the hard courts before joining their families for Christmas.
It won’t be long before they jet off to Australia. For Pegula, the new tennis season kicks off in just under a week. She is part of the USA team competing in the second edition of the United Cup.
Pegula and fellow American Taylor Fritz will spearhead the USA’s title defense in Perth, where they have been paired in the same group as Great Britain and host nation Australia.
Pegula lost her spot as USA’s top-ranked woman to Coco Gauff thanks to the teenager’s explosive run during the US swing. But 2023 was still the 29-year-old’s best-ever season, according to the numbers.
The Buffalo native won two titles. Pegula triumphed in Montreal – the scene of her second career WTA 1000 – and won the low-key 250 event in her mother’s birth city, Seoul.
Pegula played the most matches of any WTA player in all competitions (including doubles) and traveled the most among the top players. She ended the year with 43 hard-court wins on the WTA – the most of any woman last season.
Meanwhile, Azarenka had a dream start in Melbourne last season, reaching the semifinal of the Australian Open for the first time in a decade. It was the finest moment of her season. The Belarusian will begin her 2024 campaign in the star-studded WTA 500 tournament in Brisbane.
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