Coco Gauff won her first WTA Tour title since January with a straight-sets victory in the China Open final against Karolina Muchova.
Gauff took three weeks off from tennis after she surprisingly lost in the fourth round of the US Open at the start of September but has played some of her best tennis in Beijing over the last week.
She had the upper hand over Muchova for most of the final to race to a 6-1 6-3 win and secure her biggest triumph since that memorable maiden Grand Slam title in New York over a year ago.
From the get-go, Gauff was hitting the ball more harder and more accurately than her opponent as she took a 2-0 and 3-1 lead.
The American won three consecutive games and continued to serve well, winning 94 per cent of points on her first serve, to wrap up the first set in half an hour.
Gauff won her second title of 2024 and her first since January
Muchova surprisingly broke Gauff early in the second set to go 2-0 ahead, but lost the next four games and soon trailed 4-3.
Another comfortable hold and a break of serve from Gauff gave her an eighth career WTA Tour title, having only lost one final since turning professional as a 14-year-old in 2018.
Gauff will turn her attention to the Wuhan Open, where she will be in action mid-week. Britain’s Katie Boulter and top seed Aryna Sabalenka will also be competing in the WTA 1000 tournament.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in October?
- Shanghai Masters – ATP 1000 (October 2-13)
- Wuhan Open – WTA 1000 (October 6-12)
- Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20)
- Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20)
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
- Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.