RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Coco Gauff gained the WTA Finals for the primary time by rallying to beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) within the closing Saturday.
The 20-year-old American got here from 2-0 and 5-3 down within the closing set and was two factors from defeat at one stage.
But she took the set to a tiebreaker and gained the primary six factors. Zheng threatened a comeback however Gauff took the victory off her third match level with a forehand winner as she got here to the online.
She is the primary American to win the Finals since Serena Williams in 2014 and acquired $4.8 million in prize cash. She is also the youngest participant to win it since Maria Sharapova in 2004, the 12 months Gauff was born.
Gauff beat the world’s high two gamers — Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek — on her run to the ultimate on the season-ending occasion.
She felt vindicated after that and appeared to take a swipe at observers who wrote her off.
“I simply like to say I am proper. Particularly at this time, I received feedback about how I used to be going to lose badly, so I used to be similar to, ‘OK, we’ll see,'” Gauff mentioned. “It is truthfully simply liking the thought of simply proving individuals mistaken and, and letting your racket do the speaking. And so, yeah, I take advantage of it as motivation.”
Zheng was seeking to full a season during which she reached a grand slam closing for the primary time on the Australian Open and delivered China’s first Olympic tennis singles gold medal.
“The match at this time, it is simply a few essential factors,” Zheng mentioned. “The match was very shut.”
Gauff edged the three-hour closing which included 26 break factors. Gauff additionally gained their solely earlier assembly within the Rome quarterfinals on clay in Could.
Gauff beat Sabalenka at age 19 in final 12 months’s US Open closing to win her solely main in singles. She teamed with Katerina Siniakova to win the French Open doubles this 12 months.
Within the WTA doubles closing, Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand beat Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the USA 7-5, 6-3. They’re the primary gamers from Canada and New Zealand to win the doubles title.
