Coco Gauff has received a confidence boost ahead of the final Grand Slam of the season after winning the most prestigious title of her career at the Western and Southern Open.
The 19-year-old defeated Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4, to claim the milestone win in Cincinnati. Gauff is the fourth American woman to win the tournament and the first to do so since Madison Keys in 2019. In her latest match, she hit 16 winners and won 71% of her first service points.
“It’s unbelievable, especially after everything I went through earlier in the summer in Europe,” said Gauff.
“I am just happy to be here in this moment. I like to thank my lord and saviour Jesus Christ. There’s been a lot of nights crying, trying to figure it (my game) out. I still have a lot to figure out.” She added.
With both players making their debut in a final of a WTA 1000 event, the opening set was a roller-coaster encounter. Continuous changes of momentum saw a break of serve in five out of the first eight games contested. Nevertheless, seventh-seeded Gauff nudged ahead to a 5-3 lead. Serving to take the opener, she surged to 40-0 after a Muchova forehand slammed into the net. Then another unforced error from the Czech in the following point helped Gauff seal the opener.
Heading into the second frame, the world No.7 continued to fend off the threats she faced. Saving two break points whilst trailing 1-2 early on before breaking two games later to extend her stronghold in the final. Muchova was wearing strapping on the upper part of her left leg and appeared slightly weary at the end of a week where she had played four three-set matches.
“When I woke up this morning, the first thing (I thought) was ‘Ouch!’ I knew it was going to be a very tough task today to win, especially against somebody like Coco,” French Open finalist Muchova joked afterward.
The home favourite did encounter a blip when serving for the match on her first attempt whilst leading 6-3, 5-2. Three championship points came and went before she ended up dropping serve. Fortunately for Gauff, she had better luck on her second attempt.
Gauff is enjoying a resurgence on the Tour during what has been a mixed year for her. Since her first round loss at Wimbledon, she has won 11 out of 12 matches played with her only defeat being to Jessica Pegula at the Canadian Open. Earlier in the summer she hired coach Pere Riba and is also receiving guidance from Brad Gilbert. Gilbert is the former coach of Andre Agassi.
“Thank you to my team. There have been a lot of ups and downs over the past couple of weeks but you guys have always instilled your belief in me,” she said.
Gauff has now won five WTA titles so far in her career with three of those being in 2023. To put the tally into perspective, Caroline Wozniacki was the last player to win that amount of trophies as a teenager between 2008 and 2009.
