The former coach of Jessica Pegula said he was caught off guard by her decision to stop working with him last month.
David Witt has confirmed to tennis.com that he is no longer working with the world No.4 following her early exit from the Australian Open. Pegula was the fifth seed in Melbourne but lost in the second round to France’s Clara Burel. She is yet to play another event after pulling out of the Middle East swing due to a neck injury.
Witt had worked with the American since 2019 and oversaw her rise in the sport. During their time together, Pegula has won two WTA 1000 events, reached the quarter-final of a grand Slam on six occasions and peaked at a ranking high of No.3.
“It was a total surprise to me. Never saw it coming.” Witt told tennis.com about his departure.
“We’ve had a great friendship for five years, so it’s very tough. ”
“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.”
Before Pegula, Witt was the coach of Venus Williams and was part of her team when she won her last Grand Slam title at the 2008 Wimbledon championships.
“You just never know how high a player can go,” Witt cemented. “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 [of winning a major]. 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.”
Pegula has yet to make any public comment about her decision to stop working with Witt and it is not known who her new coach will be. She is expected to return to action next month at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
