By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, November 5, 2017
Julia Goerges beat CoCo Vandeweghe, 7-5, 6-1, to claim the Zhuhai title and stretch her career-best winning streak to nine matches.
Photo credit: WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai Facebook
A red-hot Julia Goerges continued her career-best roll in Zhuhai.
Goerges reeled off 11 of the last 12 games stopping second-seeded CoCo Vandeweghe 7-5, 6-1, in the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai final to capture her second straight tournament title.
The 18th-ranked German extended her career-best winning streak to nine matches.
Goerges, who broke serve five times, is projected to rise to a career-high rank of No. 14 when the new WTA rankings are released tomorrow, while Vandeweghe will crack the Top 10 for the first time.
The Zhuhai championship comes two weeks after Goerges dismissed Daria Kasatkina, 6-1, 6-2, soaring to her third career title in Moscow. That victory was Goerges first title in six years.
Contesting her 11th career final today, Goerges was playing catch-up at the start.
The US Open semifinalist dictated play on serve breezing to a 5-2 lead. Vandeweghe did not drop a point on her first serve in building that lead, but Goerges stormed back.
Serving for the set at 5-3, Vandeweghe crumbled with a double fault and a flurry of errors. Goerges broke then consolidated to level.
Playing for her first career hard-court title, Vandeweghe committed another costly double fault—one of six in the match—as Goerges broke for 6-5. The woman, who celebrated her 29th birthday on Thursday, converted her third set point to snatch the opener.
"It's always best not to give her too much pace because she controls big pace pretty easy," Goerges said. "So I tried to go a little bit more body on her to really let her move her body a little bit away from the return. And it worked out well.
"We battled out that first set. And in that second, I felt I got a little bit more control of her and her emotions as well."
Swinging freely, Goerges rolled through the final set wrapping up her fourth career championship in 80 minutes with Hall of Famer and compatriot Steffi Graf on hand to present the title trophy.
"It's my first time in Zhuhai," Goerges told the crowd. "I really had a great time here. Not because of this result but because you guys made this very special. Such a great support. My stay was just very lovely and enjoyable. Hopefully, I can be back here next year and see you all again."