Coco Gauff, the rising star of American tennis, has added another title to her impressive resume with a dominant victory at the China Open. The 20-year-old defeated Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-3 in the final, becoming the youngest China Open champion in 14 years.
Gauff’s triumph in Beijing marks her eighth career title and extends her remarkable record in tour finals to 8-1. She has now won all seven of her hard-court finals, a feat unmatched in the Open Era.
The American’s dominance was evident from the outset as she raced through the opening set in just 31 minutes. She dropped only five points on her first serve, hit 24 winners, and broke Muchova five times.
Gauff’s momentum continued in the second set, as she broke Muchova’s serve twice more to secure the victory. Her impressive performance has boosted her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals, featuring the top eight players, for the third consecutive year.
With her title in Beijing, Gauff has overtaken Jessica Pegula to take the No. 5 spot in the WTA rankings ahead of the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season, the Wuhan Open.
In the men’s draw, top-ranked Jannik Sinner overcame a one-set deficit to rally to a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 win against Tomas Martin Etcheverry at the Shanghai Masters.
Sinner, who won his 250th career match the previous night, faced a stern test against the No. 37-ranked Argentine. However, the Italian found his range in the second set and broke Etcheverry twice in the third to advance.
Fifth-ranked Daniil Medvedev also came from behind for a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 victory against Matteo Arnaldi to book his fourth-round berth against either No. 12-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexandre Muller.
Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, who won the China Open on Wednesday, defeated Chinese player Wu Yibing 7-6 (5), 6-3.
