Coco Gauff has just celebrated a remarkable achievement by securing her eighth WTA title at the China Open, where she convincingly defeated unseeded Czech player Karolina Muchova with a scoreline of 6-1, 6-3. This victory is a historic milestone, as Gauff becomes the first player in the Open era to win each of her first seven WTA hard-court finals.
In the championship match, Gauff displayed an impressive performance, hitting 24 winners and claiming her second WTA 1000 title, adding to her earlier victory at the Auckland Classic earlier this year. This win comes on the heels of her triumph at the Cincinnati tournament in 2023, where she faced Muchova once again.
In her post-match comments, Gauff expressed her respect for Muchova, who has recently returned to competition after recovering from a wrist injury that had kept her sidelined since last year’s US Open. “I want to say congratulations to you, Karolina. It’s great to see you back on tour,” Gauff said. “You’re such an amazing player. You deserve everything, and hopefully, you’ll be playing in many more finals.”
With this victory, Gauff improved her head-to-head record against Muchova to a perfect 3-0 and has now won eight out of her nine WTA finals. This tournament also marked Gauff’s first appearance since welcoming Matt Daly to her coaching team, following her split with Brad Gilbert last month. “I’d like to thank my team. This is our first tournament together as a complete team,” Gauff shared. “Thank you, Matt. Obviously, it’s going well, so thank you for your support throughout this week.”
Gauff aimed to shift momentum after having lost the first set in her previous three matches. She started off strong by serving to love in her opening game and breaking Muchova to take an early 2-0 lead. Gauff continued her dominance, securing two more holds to love and breaking again for a 5-1 advantage.
Despite a brief moment of worry when she faced a break point, Gauff demonstrated her resilience, closing out the first set with a powerful forehand winner. The second set brought some challenges; after accumulating two double faults, Muchova seized a 2-0 lead. However, Gauff quickly regrouped, showing her aggressive style and effectively approaching the net to break back immediately.
Muchova, who had already outplayed Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen to reach the final, struggled to find her footing after losing her lead. She would ultimately win just two points in three games as Gauff surged ahead to 4-2. Gauff clinched her victory by breaking serve, as Muchova’s backhand sailed long on match point.
Earlier in the day, Olympic women’s doubles gold medalists Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini also claimed their third WTA Tour title of the year by defeating Chan Hao-ching and Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-4.
Meanwhile, at the ATP Shanghai Masters, Jannik Sinner advanced to the fourth round after a comeback against Tomás Martín Etcheverry. Sinner, ranked world No. 1, expressed his happiness with the win, stating, “It was a very tough match, physically and mentally, so I am very happy to get through this one.” He is set to face either Roberto Carballés Baena or Ben Shelton next. Daniil Medvedev also progressed after fighting back from a set down to defeat Matteo Arnaldi.
Carlos Alcaraz secured his place in the fourth round with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over wildcard Wu Yibing, remaining unbeaten since his unexpected early exit at the US Open. He awaits either Gaël Monfils or Ugo Humbert for a chance to reach the quarterfinals.
