Coco Gauff downs Karolina Muchova for biggest title of career in Cincinnati
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Coco Gauff poses with the trophy after defeating Karolina Muchova, of the Czech Republic.
PHOTO: AFP
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CINCINNATI – Coco Gauff captured the biggest title of her tennis career on Sunday, powering past Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4 to win the WTA Cincinnati Open.
The American rushed to her box to hug her team members, after securing her first 1000-level title over French Open runner-up Muchova in just under two hours.
The 19-year-old was broken while serving for the straight-set win, but two games later threw her hands up in joy after converting on her fourth match point.
“This is unbelievable,” said Gauff, the youngest Cincinnati WTA winner and the first teenager to win five career titles since Caroline Wozniacki in 2008-09.
“Especially after Europe,” added the seventh seed, who was stung by a first-round exit at Wimbledon in July. “I had a lot of nights crying and trying to figure it all out but this is great.”
Gauff said she arrived for the hard-court tournament knowing what she needed to do to improve.
“I was going in practice and I was working on it. It just wasn’t translating into the matches,” she said. “It still can get a lot better, the things I want to improve.”
She fired 16 winners with the same number of unforced errors in the final, breaking Muchova five times. “Today I really won it off of breaking serve, to be honest,” she said, adding that she did not serve as well as she did in her semi-final win over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
“I don’t know if it was nerves – I wasn’t that nervous, to be honest. Also a combination of the long match yesterday. I wasn’t serving as well.”
She had enough, however, to get past an equally weary Muchova, who ousted second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. The Czech committed 35 unforced errors in the final.
“That’s what makes a champion, is how you’re doing on the days you aren’t feeling so great,” Gauff said. “Physically we were both feeling the impact of yesterday... I was just able to persevere a little bit more in that final push.”
Since losing in the opening round at Wimbledon, Gauff has won 11 of her last 12 matches, with her only defeat coming against Jessica Pegula the previous week in the Montreal quarter-finals.
Despite that hiccup, she will go into the US Open starting next Monday on a high. She has now won five of her six career finals, including her first 500-level event in Washington two weeks ago and her first 1000-level title here.
Muchova turned 27 on Monday with a career-best ranking of 10th. She was No. 235 in the world a year ago amid injury woes.
“I’m really happy to make a top-10 debut,” she said. “It’s always a thing that is in your mind when you play tennis, to make it to top 10. It’s happening for me tomorrow, so that’s really nice result.
“Today’s match, I fell a little short. I was very hot. Coco played great. She kept me in the rallies... It was tough to keep up with her.” AFP
