Coco Gauff has unofficially secured her spot at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, becoming the third player to qualify for the prestigious year-end tournament. The 18-year-old American revealed the news after her semifinal defeat to Aryna Sabalenka at the Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open.
Gauff’s qualification is based on the Live-Tennis.eu ranking race, which projects her to finish inside the top eight players who qualify for the WTA Finals. The official announcement is expected soon, but Gauff expressed her excitement about returning to the season-ending championships for a third consecutive year.
“I’m excited. I’m looking at dresses. They have a lot of things planned for us. I’m super excited. Yeah, I heard it’s going to be great,” Gauff said.
Gauff’s qualification is a testament to her consistent performances throughout the season. She began the Asian Swing on the bubble of qualifying but solidified her bid by winning the China Open and reaching the semifinals in Wuhan.
The 2023 US Open champion first qualified for the WTA Finals in 2022 and reached the semifinals in 2023. This year, she will be looking to make a deeper run in the tournament.
“It’s my first time not playing doubles,” Gauff added. “So, that’s going to be a different experience. But I’m excited. I’m looking at dresses. They have a lot of things planned for us. I’m super excited. Yeah, I heard it’s going to be great, so I’m excited.”
Unofficially, Live-Tennis.eu also projects Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, and Barbora Krejcikova to join Gauff at the WTA Finals. That leaves one remaining spot, for which Zheng Qinwen is in pole position after reaching the semifinals in Wuhan.
