Coco Gauff overcame some patchy play during the second set of her match against Jessica Pegula to win her first hardcourt title of 2025 at the Wuhan Open.
The world No.3 held her nerve to prevail 6-4, 7-5, over her compatriot and former doubles partner. Gauff was sternly tested at times, especially in the second frame when she hit six double faults and went down a double break. Then, after fighting back to draw level, she again went down 3-5 before winning four games in a row to seal victory.
Gauff has now won nine consecutive hardcourt finals on the WTA Tour, which is a milestone last achieved by Serena Williams, who won 12 between the 2013 US Open and 2015 Cincinnati Open. Against Pegula, she hit 24 winners against 22 unforced errors.
“You’re the three-set queen,” Gauff told Pegula, who had gone the full distance in her eight previous matches.
“So I was determined not to let you get there today because I felt like the odds would be in your favour in the third set.”
Together, the American duo had previously experienced success on the Tour by reaching eight doubles finals, winning three WTA 1000 and two WTA 500 events between 2022 and 2023.
“When I came on Tour, you were one of the first people to be nice to me and welcome me with open arms and that really goes a long way and still goes a long way, so I appreciate you,” Gauff said to Pegula.
“It’s great to finally play in a final against you and I hope for many more. It’s an honour to share the court with you.”
Gauff’s route to the Wuhan title saw her drop no sets in five matches played. The only other seeded player she faced was Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals. She also recently reached the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing.
“It was a great Asian swing,” she said.
“I’m going to call JC out (her coach Jean-Christophe Faurel). He originally didn’t want me to come because I had a tough US Open, but I had to prove him wrong.
“I’m a very stubborn person so maybe he said that on purpose for me to have a good result here.”
Gauff lost just 25 games during her entire time in Wuhan, which is the fewest dropped by a player en route to the title in the tournament’s history. The previous record was held by Peta Kvitova, who dropped 36 games on her way to claiming the 2016 trophy.
