After defeating Karolina Muchova to win the China Open for the first time in her career, Coco Gauff has won her second WTA 1000 championship.
Gauff won her first championship since Auckland in January, defeating the highly skilled Czech player 6-1 6-3.
Gauff had overcome a deficit in her previous three matches, but in the championship match, she easily defeated Muchova in one hour and seventeen minutes.
Gauff’s triumph after a challenging hard court run through North America that knocked her off of the top five WTA rankings.
And Gauff revealed how her perspective has changed, “I was super relaxed going in. I was just like, I don’t know, ‘this match is not going to change my life’. When you go into matches like that, it’s super relaxed.”
She continued, “I think also the experience of winning a 1000-level title in the past (also against Muchova in Cincinnati 2023). That tournament, it was great confidence. Again, it didn’t change my life.
“I knew regardless of the result today, I was proud. Honestly, I was just telling myself the whole match I’m proud of myself, how I was able to overcome and still work on things that I’ve been practising on, too, and stick to it.”
Gauff has also had another major change recently, having parted ways with coach Brad Gilbert and is now working with Matt Daly.
Gauff had overcome a deficit in her previous three matches, but in the championship match, she easily defeated Muchova in one hour and seventeen minutes.
Gauff’s triumph after a challenging hard court run through North America that knocked her off of the top five WTA rankings.
Gauff became the first female to win eight of her first nine finals with this victory, her eighth career title.
The 20-year-old’s lone loss occurred at Roland Garros in 2022 against Iga Swiatek, and it appears that Gauff is accepting all of these accomplishments.
“It feels great, it’s a personal achievement,” said Gauff. “I think I’m realising more and more each day that tennis is not a measure of my value as a person. I think the more you realise that, the more relaxed these tournaments become.
“I’m still going to experience pressure. It’s easier said than done. I’m sure at another tournament, I will be like, I felt so much pressure today. But it’s up and down.”
