Coco Gauff conquered the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati, becoming the first teenager able to conquer five titles since Caroline Wozniacki, able to accomplish this milestone in 2008.
The 19-year-old from Atlanta added value to the high expectations placed on her by the entire tennis world. Before the clear 6-3 6-4 against Karolina Muchova inflicted in the Cincinnati final, only three Americans had managed to impose themselves at the Western & Southern Open: Lindsay Davenport in 2004, Serena Williams in 2014 and 2015, and Madison Keys in 2019.
To make her victory even more special there is a significant statistic, because Gauff is the youngest winner in the golden register of the Cincinnati tournament. A goal achieved with impeccable performances and a large number of victories: Gauff won 11 of the last 12 games.
Muchova started badly and gave the break to her rival by missing a comfortable forehand.
Coco Gauff conquers Cincinnati by destroying Muchova, the Highlights
The American did just as badly and hit three double faults, the last one on the break point, in the third game. The Czech continued to struggle on serve despite the high percentage of first balls fielded and once again gave up the serve at 2-3 by attempting a prohibitive serve & volley.
As previously, Gauff pulled the plug after taking the lead and fell into the double fault trap allowing Muchova back again. The player born in 1996 did not grasp the positive signs of a complicated start to the game and insisted on the wrong diagonal: that of the backhand.
Gauff didn’t tremble anymore and finished the set without further worries. Both encountered several service difficulties in the second set, but Gauff took care of signing the most important break.
The American first canceled Muchova’s two chances at 1-2 helping herself with the speed of her shots and then exploited yet another backhand error by the Czech. Muchova’s bad performance is easy to find in the excessive errors at the net.
The neo Top-10 was recovered from 40-0 and allowed Gauff to serve for the title. The American felt the pressure and threw away three match points, before throwing her arms in victory.