By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 13, 2025Photo credits: Wuhan Open CVG
Coco Gauff’s resounding run to the Wuhan Open title was more than her 11th singles championship.
The third-ranked Gauff believes it’s a springboard for success in Riyadh.
In an all-American final, Gauff won the final four games in a row defeating former doubles partner Jessica Pegula, 6-4, 7-5, in Sunday’s Wuhan Open final. Gauff raised her record in hard-court finals to a perfect 9-0.
The two-time Grand Slam champion is the first woman to win nine consecutive hard-court finals since Serena Williams won 12 in a row from 2013 to 2015.
It is Gauff’s first title since she rallied past world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win Roland Garros last June and the fact she permitted just 25 games en route to her third WTA 1000 crown in Wuhan fuels her with confidence ahead of her WTA Finals championship defense in Riyadh next month.
“This definitely gives me a lot more confidence going into the WTA Finals, after the way the mid-part of the season went for me, especially in New York,” Gauff told WTA.com.
“It gives me a lot of confidence to try to defend that title.
“Obviously, winning it last year, I know how tough it is to do, so I’m just going to take it match by match and hopefully I can end up with the trophy.”
The WTA Finals, set for November 1-8th, features four Americans in Gauff, China Open champion Amanda Anisimova, Pegula and Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
World No. 3 Gauff currently leads the fourth-ranked Anisimova by 1,949 ranking points as the pair both pursue the American year-end top spot.
A year ago, Gauff out-dueled Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen in the WTA Finals championship match, 3–6, 6–4, 7–6(2), collecting a WTA-record champion’s check of $4.805 million, defeating the world No. 1 Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek along the way.
Though Gauff’s comprehensive court coverage and skill shifting spins has earned her success on clay courts, the Delray Beach-born baseliner says she’s most at home on hard courts.
“I definitely think it’s the surface I’m most true to,” Gauff said. “Growing up, I liked the sureness of bounces and the sureness of knowing when I’m going to stop and when I’m going to go.
“A lot of people think [it’s] clay. I don’t know my favorite surface. I feel like it’s still going to be hard court for me.”
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