Coco Gauff won a breathtaking final against Qinwen Zheng to secure her first WTA Finals title. The American explained afterward why she fell to the ground after sealing the victory.
Gauff entered the WTA Finals as one of the favorites after returning to form under new coach Matt Daly since the Asian swing. The 20-year-old parted ways with former coach Brad Gilbert after the US Open.
Last year's champion at Flushing Meadows won the second WTA 1000 title of her career at last month's China Open. That was Gauff's first tournament with Daly, showing the immediate impact he had.
Gauff backed that up with a solid run to the Wuhan Open semifinals. That meant she began the WTA Finals as the world No. 3 and American No. 1, but her Olympics doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, had a chance to overtake Gauff at the tournament.
However, Gauff made a statement by easily beating Pegula in her first match before qualifying for the semifinal by cruising past Iga Swiatek. That was Gauff's second victory in 13 attempts against the Pole.
After taking down the year-end world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal, Gauff met Zheng in the final. It proved to be one of the year's best matches on the WTA or ATP Tour.
Despite creating more chances throughout the opening set, Gauff lost it 3-6. Zheng saved a series of break points before the China Open champion was broken to love after a very loose service game.
Gauff's task got even harder when she fell a break behind in the second set. But the 20-year-old's mentality and fighting spirit are among the strongest on the WTA Tour for a reason, and she fought back to take it 6-4 and force a decider.
Zheng was on the verge of winning the tournament when she served with a 5-4 lead in the third set. Somehow, Gauff pulled herself off the canvas again to break back. To Zheng's credit, she then saved two championship points at 5-6 to take the match to a deciding set tiebreak.
Unfortunately for the Chinese player, Gauff was almost faultless in the tiebreak. After racing into a 6-0 lead, she took her fifth championship point at 6-2 to win the WTA Finals title, falling to the ground after the moment that got her over the line.
Gauff revealed afterward that she had promised herself that she would only fall to the ground after winning Grand Slams. However, that promise was broken because of the exhaustion the former US Open champion felt after an epic three-hour battle with Zheng.
"At the end of the match, when I, like, fell on the floor, I didn't think I was going to do that. I kind of, like, made a promise to myself that I would only save that for Grand Slams. But honestly, to the way the match went, I was like, 'I'm just tired. I just want to lay on the ground.'"
No one can begrudge Gauff spending a few moments on the ground after entertaining the crowd in the arena and watching worldwide so much, with Zheng also more than playing her part.
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