At the pivotal juncture of 4-all in Sunday\u2019s opening set, Coco Gauff hit three of her four aces in a\u00a0single\u00a0game. Down 5-3 in the second set, Gauff ran off\u00a010 straight\u00a0points on the way to a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Jessica Pegula.<\/p>\n
Gauff, your Dongfeng Voyah \u00b7 Wuhan Open champion, is the consummate closer. She has played in nine Hologic WTA Tour hard-court finals — and won them all. No one else in the history of women\u2019s tennis has triumphed in her first nine hard-court finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, wow,\u201d Gauff said on hearing that statistic, then burst into laughter during a conversation with\u00a0wtatennis.com. \u201cYour answer is probably just as good as mine. I don\u2019t know, honestly. I think in finals, there\u2019s something in you that wants to just go, because I made it this far, and I want to hold the trophy.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn hard courts, that\u2019s where I feel the most comfortable, on the courts I grew up playing on. I think I\u2019ve gotten lucky in some matches, others I just felt good that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mixing speeds and spins with a variety of slices like a crafty veteran pitcher, the 21-year-old American kept the ball in play and consistently prevailed in the longer rallies. The weary Pegula, who thrives on an opponent\u2019s pace, had little to work with.<\/p>\n
This was the 31-year-old\u2019s 10th\u00a0match in 14 days. Coming into the final, Pegula had played eight consecutive three-set matches. Including Beijing, her two-week total was a staggering 28 sets. Friendly suggestion: Don\u2019t try this at home.<\/p>\n
Gauff, who lost in WTA 1000 finals earlier this year on the clay in Madrid and Rome, collected her third career 1000 title. She\u2019s the third-youngest to do that in the 16-year history of the format, after Iga Swiatek and Caroline Wozniacki.<\/p>\n
For the record, Gauff is a resplendent 22-3 in China.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a combination of the timing of the season, knowing that you\u2019re so close to the season being over that you\u2019re just like, \u2018Whatever happens, happens,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd also the conditions here I feel like favor my game. The courts in Beijing were a little bit quicker and then here a little bit slower. In Wuhan the conditions were similar to what I train in in Florida so I felt really comfortable on the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win underlined what has become an interesting — and hugely successful — pattern. For the third straight year, Gauff is benefiting from a coaching change late in the season.<\/p>\n
In the summer of 2023, she hired Brad Gilbert, who worked with Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray — and won the US Open.
\nAfter failing to defend that title in 2024, she hired Matt Daly — and went on to win titles in Beijing and at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
\nDays before this year\u2019s US Open, Daly was replaced by mechanics expert Gavin MacMillan — and Gauff has won 12 of 14 matches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019m constantly trying to evolve and get better,\u201d Gauff said. \u201cIt\u2019s not anything against the coaches I worked with — I can still be at the top and want to get better. Sometimes, a new perspective helps. It\u2019s not always about what they say — maybe they\u2019re saying similar things — but maybe the approach is a little bit different and I\u2019m able to receive it better.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely happy with my team. I don\u2019t want to make changes anymore. I\u2019m really proud of how I\u2019ve managed to turn this part of the season around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Further highlights from her interview:<\/p>\n
You looked like a crafty baseball pitcher out there, changing speeds and spins \u2026 what prompted you to go with that strategy against Jess?<\/p>\n
Playing Jess, she\u2019s a really great ball-striker. Honestly, it wasn\u2019t always a part of the plan, but I was just thinking it was the shot I had to do in the moment. She hits the ball so low and flat sometimes I feel the only option is the slice at times. Today was also cooler than the earlier rounds, and the court was playing slow, so I felt like hitting winners and powering through would be pretty hard because the court was just so slow.<\/p>\n
Neither of you showed much emotion during the match. At times it was like watching Venus and Serena Williams play each other \u2026 How difficult is it to play such a good friend?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s definitely difficult playing a friend in the final. It\u2019s ups and downs, for sure. I don\u2019t do it intentionally, but maybe I am a little more chill in the reactions and stuff. Jess is always calm, she doesn\u2019t let out too much. When you play someone that you know, for me, it makes it more fun. Obviously, you want to win for yourself, but if you lose you know you\u2019re losing to someone that you respect, on and off the court.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Working with Gavin MacMillan, where would you say your serve is right now?<\/p>\n
Obviously, it was a big hole in my game, the serve, and it still can get better. But I definitely think it\u2019s been a big improvement since Cincinnati and New York to now. It\u2019s just about trusting the process. Before, I was serving technically wrong and I felt like I didn\u2019t have a solution with it. Now I have a solution, and it\u2019s continuing to trust that when the moments get tight. In a general sense, I changed the way I toss the ball and my motion on the serve. I don\u2019t want to get too specific, but if you look at the before and after, I\u2019m turning a little bit more on my toss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What will the next few weeks look like for you?<\/p>\n
Just going home [to South Florida] and training, getting ready for Riyadh. It\u2019s the last tournament of the year, and I\u2019m looking forward to it. And then the season\u2019s over.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re the defending champion in Riyadh. What are your goals and expectations for the WTA Finals?<\/p>\n
I think just taking it match by match. I don\u2019t know when the last time someone\u2019s defended the title [Serena Williams in 2013 and 2014] — it\u2019s a pretty tough title to defend, given that you\u2019re playing the top eight players in the world. I\u2019m just going to go in with no expectations. I just want to make it out of my group. That\u2019s what my goal was last year.<\/p>\n
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