Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.
This week, the most mercurial player on the men’s tour did what he does best, there was an American shuffle at the top of the women’s rankings and a Wimbledon champion’s quandary revealed the delicate balance of tennis scheduling.
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An important milestone for Jessica Pegula?
The American trio just below the summit of the women’s tennis rankings reshuffled this week, as Jessica Pegula moved ahead of Coco Gauff by winning the WTA 500 title in Charleston. Pegula, who beat Sofia Kenin 6-3, 7-5 after coming from 1-5 down in the second set, is now world No. 3, matching her career-high ranking.
With a big gap between the American and world No. 2 Iga Świątek, and another big gap between Gauff and world No. 5 Madison Keys, it may look as if Pegula’s first clay-court title is more significant than the tight tussle between world No. 3 and world No. 4, with just 38 points separating them.
But Pegula, who missed last year’s clay-court swing with injury, is now entering the two WTA 1,000s in Rome and Madrid and then the French Open in Paris with no points to defend, effectively…
