Coco Gauff heads into her final tournament of the season with a confidence boost following her successful Asian swing.
After her fourth round exit from the US Open, Gauff bounced back at the China Open where she reached the semi-finals before losing to Amanda Anisimova, who went on to claim the title. More recently at the Wuhan Open, she dropped only 25 games in five matches played en route to winning the title. It is the first time this season the world No.3 has won a WTA title on a hardcourt. Her only other triumph of 2025 was at the French Open where she defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
Gauff is set to take a brief break before preparing for her title defence at the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia. The year-end showdown features the eight highest-ranked players playing in a found-robin format with the top two of each group progressing to the knockout stages. Should Gauff win the trophy, she will become the first player to win the WTA Finals in consecutive years since Serena Williams, who won three years in a row between 2012 and 2014.
“I think I’ll probably take a couple days off and enjoy [the Wuhan Open win],” Gauff said on Sunday.
“I’m going to a music festival I’m excited about. And then yeah, get ready for the final push of the season, and definitely it gives me a lot more confidence going into WTA Finals, especially how the mid part of the season went for me, especially in New York and everything.
“So it gives me a lot of confidence to make that chance to try to defend that title. Obviously, winning it last year, I know how tough it is to do, so I’m just gonna take it match by match, and hopefully you can end up with a trophy.”
11 women have won multiple titles at the WTA Finals since its first edition in 1972. According to the WTA website, $15.5 million will be on the line in this year’s tournament. It will be held on hardcourts which Gauff believes hands her an advantage.
“I definitely think it’s the surface I’m most true to,” she commented.
“Growing up I liked the sureness of bounces and the sureness of knowing when I’m going to stop and when I’m going to go.
“A lot of people think (my best surface) is clay. I don’t know my favourite surface. I feel like it’s still going to be hard court, for me.”
Gauff has won nine consecutive hardcourt finals on the WTA Tour. She has a win-loss record of 47-14 on the Tour so far this year.
