Gauff's Finals title caps a big turnaround in fortunes

Coco Gauff pays attention to what people say about her online, and occasionally takes pleasure in clapping back. So, it should not be a surprise that she took to social media to type out a message after wrapping up 2024 by winning the WTA Finals and the $4.8 million check that came with it.

"Lol. Safe to say I beat the bad season allegations," Gauff wrote.

After defeating both the No 1 and No 2-ranked women — Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek — earlier in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Gauff got past Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen of China 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Saturday in the title match. That allowed the No 3 Gauff to close her year with a 54-17 record and three trophies.

"There's been a lot of ups and downs. At moments, it felt great. At other moments, it felt awful. Basically, a typical year on tour," the 20-year-old Floridian said in a telephone interview.

"The worst? Definitely my US Open loss. I felt that was just a hard loss for me, because I double-faulted so many times," Gauff said with a self-deprecating chuckle.

"It felt like I was close, but just didn't give myself the best chance."

How did she put aside that 19-double-fault, fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro in September as the defending champion at Flushing Meadows?

That's an important question, because as disappointing as the setback was — where it happened, how it happened — that marked a pivotal moment.

From there, Gauff split from coach Brad Gilbert and hired Matt Daly to work alongside Jean-Christophe "JC" Faurel on her team.

And from there, Gauff went 13-2 at her last three tournaments, including two titles and a semifinal run.

"The key is when you reach a low, the only way you can go is up," Gauff explained.

"So at that point, I just said, 'well, I have to get better at some things, and just try to do that'. Being a tennis player, you can't miss a bunch of tournaments just to practice — I mean, you can, but I didn't want to do that; I didn't want to take that route — so I just decided to be willing to accept the losses and wins while working on things."

So far, so good.

One significant improvement: Gauff averaged 4.6 double-faults across her five matches at the WTA Finals, certainly much better than at the US Open.

In Saturday's final, Gauff produced more aces (five) than double-faults (four) and turned in a higher first-serve percentage (64 to 62) and a higher winning percentage on first-serve points (70 to 62) than Zheng, one of the tour's top servers.

There was not a thing that was easy about this triumph.

Gauff's run included those victories over Sabalenka (in the semifinals) and Swiatek (in round-robin play), making the American the youngest player to win against the top two women at one tournament since Maria Sharapova at the 2006 US Open.

"She's a fighter," Sabalenka said about Gauff.

The final was a serious test of wills — the first WTA Finals championship match settled by a third-set tiebreaker, and, at three hours and four minutes, more than a half-hour longer than any title match at the event since record-keeping began in 2008.

"When you play this type of match," Zheng said, "it's not about tennis, it's just about choices on court."

At this still-early stage in her career, Gauff seems to be making good choices — both on and off the court. Her response to, and rebound from, what happened in New York illustrates that.

As does becoming the youngest champ at the WTA Finals — which is for the top eight women in the game — since Sharapova was a teenager in 2004.

"Playing the best of the best," Gauff said, "makes me feel confident in my game."

Agencies Via Xinhua