Coco Gauff's triumph against Qinwen Zheng at the 2024 WTA Finals was one of the matches of the season, and the financial reward for the American after winning the tournament was absolutely incredible.
Although Gauff had endured some struggles throughout 2024, she still earned a healthy amount of money after several solid results in the season's opening months on hard and clay courts.
The 20-year-old reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, French Open, Indian Wells Open, and the Italian Open. She was performing well but could not take the next step of reaching a final or winning a title.
After a dip in form during the grass court and North American hard court swings, Gauff parted ways with her coach, Brad Gilbert. Despite being experienced, Gilbert was unable to help last year's US Open champion in the way she needed.
Gauff appointed Matt Daly as her new coach. The move proved inspired. In her first two tournaments working with Daly, she won the China Open title and reached the semifinal of the Wuhan Open.
Interestingly, Daly is known to be an expert in grip changes. Gauff admitted she and Daly have worked on some changes with her troublesome second serve but did not want to reveal too many details.
The world No. 3's efforts before the WTA Finals earned her over $4.5 million. Almost $500,000 of this was gained in doubles, mostly from winning the French Open women's doubles title with Katerina Siniakova.
Gauff built on her momentum from the Asian swing at the WTA Finals. She qualified in second place from a group containing Iga Swiatek, Barbora Krejcikova, and Jessica Pegula. The American beat Swiatek for just the second time in her second match of the group.
That was followed by an outstanding straight-sets triumph against Aryna Sabalenka, who had already secured the year-end No. 1 position before the match, finishing ahead of Swiatek.
Gauff played Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng in what was expected to be an entertaining final, but it exceeded even the highest expectations. Zheng won the opening set 6-3, but the American hit back to take the second 6-4 and force a decider.
The Chinese player served for the match at 5-4, but Gauff showed her trademark resilience to fight back. After a contest of stunning quality, Gauff prevailed 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 to win the second biggest title of her career after the US Open.
This year's WTA Finals being held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, meant the prize money was incredible. Gauff won $4,805,000 for winning the WTA Finals, the most significant prize money ever awarded to a WTA player.
That is more than Gauff earned at all of her other tournaments combined in 2024. Even if the WTA is sincere about wanting to grow tennis in Saudi Arabia, the financial benefits for its players by having the WTA Finals in the country obviously played a role in hosting it there.
Gauff can now rest and enjoy her winnings. Her first tournament of the 2025 season is scheduled to be at the 2025 United Cup.
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