World number six Coco Gauff dominated unseeded Czech player Karolina Muchova to win the China Open – the eighth WTA title of her career and first since January.
20-year-old Coco Gauff strolled to her 2nd title of the season at the China Open after a 6-1 6-3 straight sets victory over the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova. Despite struggling with her serve earlier in the week, the world No. 4 delivered a dominant performance to secure the 8th title of her young career and improve her already impressive record in finals to 8-1.
The China Open title was never in Coco Gauff’s plans. After bowing out in the fourth round of the US Open in her title defense last month, Gauff shuffled up her coaching team. The initial thought was to skip Beijing to give the 20-year-old American a solid training block.
In the end, it was Gauff who stepped in and made the call.
“I kind of told my team I wanted to play Beijing,” Gauff said. “We were planning on just coming to Wuhan. I just felt like I needed to play, have fun. I enjoy Beijing.”
Winning the China Open title means Gauff will jump two places from No. 6 to No. 4. She overtakes Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini, and the American will sit on 5,593 points.
Gauff will not be able to reclaim her spot at No. 2 before the season ends. Aryna Sabalenka has over 3,000 more points, and the Belarusian will overtake Iga Swiatek at No. 1 if she reaches the quarter-final of the Wuhan Open.
However, Gauff has a realistic chance of finishing the season at No. 3 and as the American No. 1. She is less than 400 points behind her Olympics doubles partner Jessica Pegula, who currently holds 5,945 points.
Gauff now moves on to the Wuhan Open, which starts on Monday.
The 2024 Wuhan Open, a WTA 1000 tournament, is making its return after being last held in 2019. Running from October 7 to October 13, this prestigious event features a competitive singles draw of 56 players, including top seeds Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Zheng Qinwen.
Unfortunately, some of the biggest players in the women’s game are missing. Iga Swiatek withdrew from the Wuhan Open, announcing she needed some time to appoint and start working with a new coach after splitting with Tomasz Wiktorowski.
Elena Rybakina and Emma Raducanu are two other former Grand Slam champions who cannot compete in Wuhan.
Swiatek’s withdrawal gives Sabalenka a great opportunity to become world No. 1. If she reaches the quarterfinal, the Belarusian will overtake Swiatek in the rankings the week after the Wuhan Open.