Fourth seed Coco Gauff won her first China Open title on Sunday following straight sets win over unseeded Karolina Muchova in Beijing.
The world number six saw off the Czech 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes to at the Diamond Court to clinch the eighth WTA title of her career and her first since January in Auckland.
The 20-year-old, who has been criticised throughout the week for her poor serve, was dominant from start to finish, claiming six aces as well as five of her nine break points.
“I want to say congratulations to you, Karolina, it’s great to see you back on tour,” Gauff said in her post-match interview.
“I think you’re such an amazing player – you deserve everything and hopefully you play many more finals.”
Making her mark 👊
On her 101st match at a WTA 1000 event, @CocoGauff captures the #ChinaOpen title! pic.twitter.com/Z74WrYnSCy
— wta (@WTA) October 6, 2024
Gauff, playing in her 101st match in a WTA 1000 event, took the first set in just 30 minutes, putting down the marker early on against world No. 49 Muchova, who had defeated top seed Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen enroute to the final.
Muchova, 28 began the second set with a bit more intensity, rushing to a 2-0 lead thanks to two double faults from Gauff. However, the American broke back immediately before taking four consecutive games, in a replica of her semifinal triumph against Spaniard Paula Badosa.
With her 24th unforced error of the game, the Czech eventually ceded the win to Gauff, who made it three straight wins against her older opponent.
Gauff’s victory in Beijing helped her become the first American woman since Serena Williams in 2013 to win the China Open title. She also became the youngest winner of the WTA 1000 event in 14 years.
The American’s triumph pushed her into fourth place in the race to the Finals, as only the top seven players qualify automatically for the end-of-the-season event, while the final eighth spot goes to either a Grand Slam champion within the Top 20 in the world or to the eighth position on the leaderboard.
