Finals are tough tests for most players.
Coco Gauff continues to transform finals into finishing school.
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A sharp Gauff shredded Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-3 In a confident China Open final to capture her eighth career title.
The 76-minute victory vaults Gauff past Jasmine Paolini back up to No. 4 in the live rankings.
The 2023 US Open champion brings closure to championship tests. Gauff improving to 8-1 lifetime in finals, including six straight finals wins, with her lone loss coming to Iga Swiatek in the 2022 Roland Garros final. Gauff owns a 10-1 record in Beijing with her lone loss coming to Swiatek in the 2023 semifinals.
The fourth-seeded Gauff made history going 7-0 in her first seven WTA hard-court finals.
Put Gauff in a final, and her second serve sharpens, she manages her sometime wayward forehand with more menace, she runs nearly every ball down and uses her speed as both an offensive and defensive weapon rather than chasing and countering.
How strong was Gauff in this final? She won six of the 16 games played at love.
Covering Beijing’s blue hard court with the confidence of a woman scampering around her backyard, Gauff beat Muchova for the third time in as many meetings—she’s swept all six sets they’ve played—raising her 2024 record to 47-15. Muchova showed class after a tough defeat that dropped her finals record to 1-4.
“You kicked my butt today literally—again—you must love to play against me," Muchova told Gauff afterward. "It was really tough today.
"It shows how great an athlete you are, and congratulations for another win and good luck for the rest of the season…all the best to you and your team.”
The 20-year-old Gauff won her second WTA 1000 championship 14 months after she defeated Muchova 6-3, 6-4 to win the Cincinnati Open. Gauff did it in her first event with her new coaching team that includes coach Matt Daly, whom she said she hopes will be a part of her long-term future.
"Karolina, it’s great to see you back on tour, you’re such an amazing player," said Gauff, the first American since Serena Williams in 2013 to take the title. "You deserve everything. Hopefully we play many more finals...
"It’s incredible to see how you’ve been able to manage your season after so many injuries. I just wish you the best and hopefully you stay healthy for the rest of this year and rest of your career.”
Contesting her first final since she won Auckland nine months ago, Gauff opened with an ace, setting the tone with a love hold.
The 49th-ranked Muchova snapped US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka’s 15-match winning streak in the quarterfinals before sweeping China’s Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen—and silencing Beijing fans—with a powerful semifinal performance.
Prior to this final, Muchova said Gauff was a wall on wheels.
"She's like a moving wall. It's tough to hit some winners and make it shorter,” the 2023 French Open finalist said.
Smooth movement and sharp counterstrikes on the run helped Gauff bang out the break immediately. Muchova threw the entire all-court arsenal at the American—she played short angles, attacked net, hit a drop shot—-but Gauff was quick off the mark and running with purpose.
On Gauff’s third break point she converted for a 2-0 lead when Muchova could not handle a tricky half volley.
An empowered Gauff stamped a second straight love hold for 3-0 after just 10 minutes of play.
Former Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens, Muchova’s co-coach, was leaning forward in her seat as her charge won an athletic net point that helped her hold in the fourth game.
Meanwhile, Gauff rolled through three consecutive love holds, winning 20 of the first 28 points in building a 4-1 lead.
Even when Muchova made acrobatic high backhand volley, an undaunted Gauff read the reply and zapped a pass down the line. That shot sealed her second break and a 5-1 lead.
Gauff won four of the first seven games at love. Muchova hit a couple of fine forehands that helped her erase two set points.
Sliding her fourth ace wide brought Gauff a third set point. Gauff froze Muchova with a leaping crosscourt forehand winner to snatch a one-set lead after 29 minutes. Gauff won 30 of 42 points played in the opening set, sweeping her fifth straight set vs. Muchova.
Though Gauff’s forehand, predicated on her extreme western grip, has been the target for opponents she hit that stroke sharply in the opener.
Gauff spun heavy forehands that bounded shoulder-high and sometimes backed Muchova up and she hit the crosscourt forehand with control and accuracy. Gauff tripled Muchova’s winner total–10 to 3–and committed just three errors in a clean set.
Playing for her second career title, Muchova stamped her strongest hold to start the second set.
Moving closer to attack a second serve, Muchova drew a double fault to earn break point in the second game. Gauff, who loves a target, fired a forehand pass to save it only to double fault to face a second break point. One of the longest exchanges of the match saw Gauff dictating with her forehand to her opponent’s backhand bouncing a smash to save a second break point.
On her third break point, Muchova attacked a second-serve with a near SABR-style return then knifed a high backhand volley off the line breaking for 2-0.
Sneaking a drop shot past Gauff is as easy as cartwheeling over the net. Muchova tried played the dropper, but Gauff was all over it breaking back in the third game.
Pressure restricted Muchova’s right arm as she double faulted away a second straight break. Gauff streaked through 11 points in a row transforming an 0-2 deficit into a 3-2 lead.
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Gauff clocked 24 winners—10 more than Muchova—and hit several stirring running strikes to demoralize the talented champion from Czechia.
A Gauff forehand return down the line provoked a netted Muchova reply as Gauff raised her hard-court finals record to 7-0.