Online Reporter
COCO Gauff overcame Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 yesterday to clinch the third WTA 1 000 tennis title of her career in an all-American final at the Wuhan Open.
The third-seeded Gauff secured the trophy without dropping a set after a 1hr 42min battle in the central Chinese city.
In the first final between the former doubles partners, Gauff erased multiple deficits in the second set to improve her head-to-head record against Pegula to 3-4.
The 21-year-old in the process became the first player in the Open Era to win her first nine hard-court finals.
The pair had contrasting routes to the final with Gauff breezing dropping a mere 16 games while Pegula battled through three-setters in all eight of her previous matches.
Gauff won the first six points of the match and it set the tone for what was to come, as she leapt to a 3-0 advantage.
Pegula recovered from her slow start and went on the attack in game seven, breaking with a fierce backhand winner that helped her get back on level terms at 4-4.
It looked like the sixth seed had swung the momentum her way but Gauff found a tiny opening two games later and broke to secure the opening set in 47 minutes.
Pegula had come back from 2-5 down in her deciding set against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka the day before and was more than ready for another fightback.
Shortly after, Gauff raised her arms in celebration as a Pegula volley sailed wide on match point.
Meanwhile, world number 204 Valentin Vacherot yesterday beat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to win the Shanghai Masters 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and become the lowest-ranked champion in the history of ATP 1000 events.
The all-family final between the 54th-ranked Frenchman Rinderknech and 204th-ranked Vacherot, from Monaco, is one of the tournament’s unlikeliest endings to date —the latter’s coach and half-brother, Benjamin Balleret, described it as a “fairytale”. It was just the third ATP Masters 1000 final in history to feature two unseeded players.
“I want to thank someone without whom I wouldn’t be here — that person is obviously Arthur,” said Vacherot as he accepted his trophy.
“It’s completely mad, I can’t believe it,” he added in French. — AFP Sport.
