Coco Gauff Wins It All in the WTA Finals to Finish a Difficult 2024 Season
After a grueling match that lasted over three hours, Coco Gauff came away with her first WTA Finals victory of her career. With her win over Paris Olympic singles champion Zheng Qinwen, she stands as the youngest WTA Finals champion in the last 20 years. Gauff coming away with an impressive win in one of the most prestigious tournaments in women’s tennis puts a positive spin on a year full of highs and lows.
Leading Up to Paris
Coming into the year ranked third in the world, Gauff started the 2024 season with a win in the ASB Classic in New Zealand. In the first tournament of the year, she faced off against Ukrainian challenger Elina Svitolina to defend her title in the tournament from the previous year. The final match ended 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 as Gauff kicked off the year positively.
Following the early success in Auckland, Gauff competed well in a few other high-level tournaments such as the Italian and French Open.
The Italian Open ended in a Semifinal finish for the 20-year-old superstar. Starting off the tournament with convincing wins in the early rounds, Guaff ran up against Zheng in the quarterfinal round. With their first set tied at 6, Gauff won the tiebreaker 7-4. In the second set, Gauff took control, winning 6-1. In the semifinal, Gauff fell to the second highest ranked player in the world, Iga Swiatek, but made a solid showing in the tournament overall.
Gauff had similar success in the French Open, but again lost to Swiatek in the semifinal match, setting the stage for a potential rivalry between the two.
Her 2024 season started to take a turn during Wimbledon in July. After merely two weeks of rest following the Grass Court Championship in Berlin, Gauff underperformed, losing in the round of 16 to fellow American, Emma Navarro. This upset in Wimbledon would be an unfortunate precursor to the Paris Olympics.
Heading into the Olympic Games in Paris ranked second in the world, Gauff set a new record as the youngest flag bearer for the United States, standing alongside NBA superstar LeBron James. Competing in her first Olympics, expectations for Gauff were lofty. A fan favorite nationally, she had the second highest betting odds to win gold. Unfortunately, the Olympics ended in heartbreak. Gauff lost prematurely to Donna Vekic in an emotional battle, with her having to plead her case over a controversial call. As the umpire refused to overturn the ruling, the match started slipping. Tears visibly streamed down her face as the loss started to feel inevitable. In a fit of frustration, she claimed that controversial calls seemed to frequently happen in her matches when she played in France. A similar situation occurred during her loss to Swiatek in the French Open, leaving salt in a very fresh wound for Gauff. Despite her efforts, she was disqualified in the third round of the Olympics and didn’t place for any medals in the women’s singles.
Redemption
Following the Olympics, Gauff continued to spiral downward. She had two very early losses in the Cincinnati Open and US Open. With her world ranking dropping back down to third, she had to put on a good showing to close the year out.
She eventually got her breakthrough in the China Open. With resounding wins in China including a blowout 6-1, 6-3 win against Karolina Muchova in the championship, Gauff ended the tailspin that had plagued her for months. With her victory, she became the first American to win this event since Serena Williams in 2013.
Getting some momentum back on her side, Gauff entered the WTA Finals in peak form. She quickly took care of Jessica Pegula, winning 6-3, and 6-2 in the first round. Next came Gauff’s biggest hurdle of the year: Swiatek in the next round of group matches. After ending two of her previous tournament runs, Swiatek couldn’t handle a motivated Gauff, losing 6-3, and 6-4. After finally breaking through that barrier, Gauff compiled that momentum. She beat the number one ranked player in the world, Aryna Sabalenka, to reach the finals against the 2024 Olympic gold medalist, Zheng.
Zheng won the first set convincingly, ending at 6-3. To start the match, Zheng jumped out to an early 2-0 lead. Gauff fought her way back into the game, tying the score at three apiece, but Zheng overwhelmed her, winning the first set.
The second set started similarly with Zheng putting up two quick points. Like the first set, Gauff fought her way back into the game, but was able to convert on that resilience to take the lead. Gauff won the second set 6-4, pushing it to the third and final round for the WTA Finals.
In a dogfight that stretched the match to three hours, Gauff summoned her resolve. Holding true to the nature of the match, Zheng took a 2-0 lead to start. At that point in the match, it was familiar territory for Gauff as she gradually mounted her comeback, taking the set advantage at 3-2.
Coming to the end of the set in a 6-5 deficit, Zheng went on a ridiculous run, forcing the game into a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Gauff completely took control. She put up six points to Zheng’s one, and finished up the finals with a 7-2 tiebreaker round to win the WTA championship. As the match concluded, Gauff collapsed to the floor in relief and exhaustion, reaching the mountaintop once again.
In a press conference after the match, Gauff spoke on the resilience it took to turn the tide in the final match: “I know I was a couple points away from losing, but, you know I just tried to stay in the moment honestly and I’m really proud of myself.”
With the conclusion of her 2024 season, she finishes with an overall record of 54-17, earning herself some well-earned rest after a monstrous end to the year.