Coco Gauff defeated world No. 2 Iga Swiatek 6-3, 6-4 to secure her spot in the 2024 WTA Finals semi-finals.
After her win, Gauff said: “Despite our head-to-head, I had a lot of confidence going in… I felt like I was playing great tennis, and even when I was playing a bit sloppy, the games were still going to deuce.”
She added: “That gave me confidence and I knew that if I could just find my game, that I would have the chance to close out the match… The first set I think I had three straight games in a row with breakpoints, I did not let that discourage me. I knew I was going to get it eventually.”
Highlights of the match
Gauff and Swiatek exchanged the first two games in the first set.
In the third game the world No. 3 had the opportunity to break her opponent, but Swiatek fought back from a 40-30 disadvantage to hold.
When the set was tied at 3-3, Gauff held serve and then broke her opponent to take a 5-3 lead. The 2024 French Open winner took a 1-0 lead in the match.
Moreover, Gauff won the first game of the second set by holding service after saving two break points. After making it 1-1, Swiatek broke Gauff and took a 2-1 lead in the second set by taking advantage of a string of double-faults. However, Gauff countered with a break of her own to halt Swiatek’s momentum and tie the second set at 2-2.
In order to regain her lead, Swiatek held serve in the sixth and then broke. But Gauff held serve to move and bring the score back to level with another stunning break to secure her win.
In all of their 13 matches, Gauff only won twice against Swiatek.
Coco Gauff stunned world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka by defeating her in straight sets to get to the WTA World Tour Finals.
The American athlete faced world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the group stages and went on to win her second unexpected victory of the event against Sabalenka, winning the match 7-6(4), 6-3 in an hour and fifty-one minutes.
Highlights of the game
Despite threatening Sabalenka in the Belarusian’s opening service game, Gauff failed to convert two break point attempts. She broke herself in the following game as the top seed imposed her own agenda on the match. As the first set hovered toward a tiebreak, Gauff retaliated exceptionally to equalize the scores.
Gauff dominated the breaker, earning all four of Sabalenka’s initial service points before ultimately completing her third set point after the two traded breaks at 5-5 and 6-5.
Gauff maintained her momentum and won the second set, leading 4-1 and up a double break. Sabalenka grabbed an eighth breakpoint to cut the lead in half. However, Gauff booked herself in the finals by making one last break.
With her win, Gauff declared: “I’m happy with the way I played… Playing against Aryna, she’s always going to be a tough match. I just tried to stay in it. She’s world No. 1 for a reason, and I’m happy with how I played today.”
She added: “A break in tennis means nothing, to be honest. People think too much about it. I just knew I needed to win a game to stay in the set, and I was lucky that I broke in that game.”
Gauff will now face Zheng Qinwen of China, who won against eighth seed Barbora Krejcikova in the other semi-final. Krejcikova defeated Gauff in the group stages.
Gauff said: “[Zheng] is playing great tennis. Just playing confident[ly] will help me give me the best shot at winning. I’m not nervous, to be honest. Winning is a plus, and even being here is a reward for the season that I had.
“I think [Zheng] likes the courts here. She’s tough. A really good server, a really good mover. We kind of have different game styles in a way. It’s going to be a tough match, but I’m looking forward to it. I’ll be curious to see the last time two people who are pretty young in the final,” she added.
Reigning champion Iga Swiatek stormed into the French Open final, defeating Coco Gauff in straight sets in the semi-final.
World number one Swiatek will face Italian 12th seed Jasmine Paolini in the final in a spectacular bid to win the French Open three times in a row.
Only two women have won the title thrice in succession — Monica Seles (1990–1992) and Justine Henin (2005–2007) — in the Open era.
The third-seeded American Coco Gauff proved no match for the world number one.
Poland’s Swiatek, 23, broke Gauff in the first game of the match and, after briefly losing serve in the second set, regained control to win 6-2, 6-4.
The 20-year-old American has now lost 11 of her 12 matches against the world number one.
“It was intense, especially in the second set, but I’m happy,” said Swiatek.
“I stuck with my tactics, didn’t overthink things and just went for it.”
Before the match, Gauff had claimed the pressure was on Swiatek.
But Gauff seemed a bundle of nerves from the start of the match and ended up making a stream of errors.
Meanwhile, the Italian Paolini, 28, beat unseeded 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-1 in the second semi-final on Thursday.
The Russian teenager was the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since Martina Hingis at the 1997 US Open. She admitted she was “a bit disappointed” but added she was taking “a lot of positives” from the French Open.
Paolini, of course, had reason to smile. The late-blooming Italian has proved a surprise winner at Roland Garros.
She had never before gone beyond the second round in Paris.
“I learned a bit later than other players maybe but to dream is the most important thing in sport and life. I’m happy I could dream this moment,” said Paolini.
Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova defeated Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 7-6(5), 6-3 to win the French Open women’s doubles championship. This momentous victory was Gauff’s first Grand Slam doubles victory and Siniakova’s eighth.
On the opposition side, Jasmine Paolini seemed defeated after losing yet again. The athlete previously lost the women’s singles final 6-2, 6-1 to world number one Iga Swiatek.
Highlights of the game
Errani and Siniakova’s troubles with the serve dominated the first hour of the match; they each broke twice, forcing a tiebreaker in the opening set. Paolini and Errani had a 5-3 lead after an immediate start, but Siniakova improved and won some crucial points to shift the momentum in favour of herself and Gauff.
The Italian athletes came out strong in the second set, winning four break points in the first game. However, Gauff and Siniakova fought back to secure a crucial hold before taking the lead 2-0. Errani and Paolini seemed to be losing steam after that. Even if they were able to manage a tie in the second set twice, Gauff and Siniakova stormed to take a 5-3 lead.
In other news, world number one Iga Swiatek defeated Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-1 and won the French Open for the third time in a row. Having defeated first-time grand slam finalist Paolini in just one hour and eight minutes, she became the first woman to win three consecutive French Open titles since Justine Henin in 2007.
The victory highlights the athlete’s competence on clay and extends her winning streak at Roland Garros to 21 matches.
Although Coco Gauff was eliminated at the WTA finals, the 19-year old still
continues to have aspirations of winning the season-ending tournament one day.
Gauff’s journey prior to the WTA finals
Last year, Gauff had a rough stint at the WTA finals, as she failed to win a single set and finished with a losing record of 0-3.
This year, though, proved to be different.
Gauff had an incredible start to her season before the WTA finals, winning the ASB Classic in Auckland in January; the Citi Open and the Cincinnati Masters both in August ; and, of course, her first-career grand slam, the US Open.
As a result, she quickly established herself as the top-ranked American in the WTA rankings, peaking at third place, behind only the number-one-ranked Iga Swiatek and the number-two-ranked Aryna Sabalenka.
Coco Gauff had the breakthrough of her life on the North American Hardcourts this summer.
• 51-15 Record • US Open Champion (1st GS Title) • Cincy Champion (1st WTA 1000 Title) • Titles in Washington and Auckland • 24-4 Record Post-Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/kLfEsYimJU
For Gauff, who was only 19, winning these titles and ranking that high in the budding stage of her career was impressive.
And, as the teenager headed into the season-ending competition in Cancun, she was one of the favorites to win the championship.
Gauff’s semi-final exit at WTA finals
Last week, Coco Gauff began her WTA Finals campaign with a dominant performance, trouncing her Tunisian opponent, sixth-seeded Ons Jabeur, in a 6-0, 6-1match that lasted just 57 minutes.
“I’m just happy,” Gauff said, “to finally get a win here in this event.”
And with another 5-7, 7-6(4),6-3 win against Márketa Vondroušová, Gauff was able to qualify for the semi-finals.
Because of this, Gauff now holds the distinction of being the youngest player to win a WTA final match and advance to the semi-finals since Caroline Wozniacki 14 years ago. Another record that shows how good a player Gauff is.
Her WTA finals run, however, was ended by fellow American and doubles partner Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals 6-2, 6-1.
Gauff: It’s definitely a dream
Despite failing to win the WTA finals for the second time, Gauff still hasn’t given up on her dreams of one day winning the tournament.
Despite her preference for winning grand slam competitions, Gauff stated in an interview that she still dreams of conquering the “very challenging” WTA finals.
Via The Tennis Letter: “It would be cool to win it. To be honest, as a kid, I always dreamt of winning Grand Slams. I think as I’ve grown as a pro on tour, I learned more about what the WTA Finals is about. I’d definitely say that would be a goal of mine now, after competing in it for 2 years and realizing this is the best of the best,” said Gauff.
“I do think I can improve. It would definitely be a dream. If I had to choose, I’d rather win another Slam. But it’s definitely a dream. I think this tournament is one of the most challenging. Not only because it’s the Top 8, but because it’s the end of the season,” she added.
Coco Gauff says it would be a dream to win the WTA Finals in the future:
“It would be cool to win it. To be honest, as a kid, I always dreamt of winning Grand Slams. I think as I’ve grown as a pro on tour, I learned more about what the WTA Finals is about. I’d definitely say… pic.twitter.com/jcSeVPaKi8
As the women’s tennis season came to a close, Gauff posted a short message in her X and Instagram account, saying that she saw both her darkest and brightest moments this year and that she’s proud of what she’s achieved so far.
Via Gauff’s Instagram: “2023 season is officially over. hard to sum of this season in a few words. I saw my darkest and brightest days of my life this year. I probably grew enough for 10 lifetimes between January & now lol. I usually don’t say this but I am learning to be nicer to myself haha (I get questioned all the time by family, press, and y’all for not saying this) but yes I AM proud of myself. I am proud of the resilience showed. They really tried to count me out but it is all in God’s plan and His timing.❤️”
2023 is season officially over. hard to sum of this season in a few words. I saw my darkest and brightest days of my life this year. I am proud of myself. God’s plan❤️ pic.twitter.com/tpOlOC4Vgh
NEW YORK- Coco Gauff, 19, has made it to the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second year in a row after knocking out 2018 Australian Open champ Caroline Wozniacki.
Tennis fans have been on the lookout for Gauff’s next moves after a video of her complaining, “How is this fair?” to the umpire who turned a blind eye to her opponent’s mistake, went viral on Tiktok. But, this isn’t the first time Gauff impressed the world by being the Gen Z icon that she is.
Gauff first made headlines at the 2019 Wimbledon when she won a David vs. Goliath match against 39-year-old tennis veteran Venus Williams. She made it into the 16th round of the tournament and was thereafter declared the youngest person to achieve this feat in the history of Wimbledon. She was just 15 years old at the time and was still in the budding stage of her career.
In the same year, Gauff also grabbed her first WTA title at Linz after winning against Jelena Ostapenko.
In the years that followed, Gauff eventually became known as one of the tennis prodigies, joining the likes of Tracy Austin, Jennifer Capriati, and Andrea Jaeger.
This year, the tennis prodigy went head to head against the former Danish champ, Caroline Wozniacki. And with two of tennis’ biggest household names, their New York clash was much anticipated by sports enthusiasts around the world.
Proving to be different from all her previous rivals, Wozniacki had a strong start compared to Gauff. At one point, Gauff had her serve broken and found herself in a bit of a rut. Brad Gilbert, a coach she hired on a “trial basis”, urged her to “ play longer points” and “put more shape on the ball”.
However, Gauff had a different observation and brushed off her coach’s suggestions, even telling him to “stop talking” in the middle of the match.
“I definitely agree that playing longer points is to my advantage (in general). But I felt in that moment, playing Caroline, watching her play so many years, that that’s what she feeds off of. I didn’t want to play into that game. I know playing against her, you have to be the aggressor.“, Gauff said.
Following her intuition, Gauff played her own strategy and was able to turn the tide. She won against the former champ with 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
In an interview, Wozniacki commended Gauff for her athleticism:
“I think Coco over the last month and a half, ever since after Wimbledon, I think she’s not scared to hit through her forehand, which she has been in the past,” Wozniacki said. “I think she’s getting more depth on it and a little bit more rotation. I think that’s why she’s obviously winning more on a consistent basis. I think she’s always been a great athlete, she’s always had the backhand, the serve, the fighting spirit. I feel like right now it’s all kind of coming together for her.”
In return, Gauff also had nothing but love for Wozniacki at the end of the match, stating that she was truly an inspiration for her:
“She’s been an inspiration growing up. She definitely gets to a lot of balls. Sometimes I felt like I was playing myself. I knew I had to be aggressive today. In some moments I missed, but I was happy I was able to get back and focus”
