Cori Gauff revealed seeing good friend Jessica Pegula beat Iga Swiatek in Montreal inspired her and gave her the hope that she could do the same in Cincinnati. In the Cincinnati semifinal, Gauff recorded her first win over Swiatek in their eighth meeting as she beat the Pole 7-6 (2) 3-6 6-4. By beating Swiatek, Gauff made her first WTA 1000 final – in which she defeated Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4 to also clinch her first title on the WTA 1000 title. A week earlier, Pegula also defeated Swiatek in the Montreal semifinal 6-2 6-7 (4) 6-4.
Gauff: Pegula’s win over Swiatek gave me some hope
“Other than the win today, it was definitely the win against Iga. I think that put a lot of confidence in me for today. Especially after the loss in Montreal, sometimes you win a title, and then you lose and you go back to your old ways. I didn’t really let that loss affect me. It made me more motivated to get better. Jess played an incredible match. I think that just inspired me even more. And honestly, seeing her beat Iga last week gave me some hope because I was like, I got close to beating her and I’ve beaten Jess before, so it gave me some hope that maybe this was my time.Ā I’m going to try to take this level, and an even higher level into the US Open,” Gauff said on the WTA Insider Podcast.
Heading into the US Open, Gauff has an 11-1 record on hard courts this summer. After winning Washington and Cincinnati, there is no doubt that Gauff is full of confidence and feeling extremely well ahead of the final Grand Slam of the season. Gauff now has a WTA 1000 title in her pocket and there is no doubt that she will be aiming to also become a Grand Slam champion at Flushing Meadows.