Coco Gauff was stunned when a journalist told her she had secured the largest prize money in WTA history after winning the WTA Finals.
Saudi Arabia's willingness to drastically increase the prize money for the WTA Finals was the most significant reason for the country being chosen to host the season-ending finals in its capital city of Riyadh.
Some had fears about Saudi Arabia being allowed to host such a significant tournament because of its human rights record. Gauff admitted to having reservations about the move but decided more good could be done by engaging with the country.
There was also criticism after terrible crowd attendance on the second day of the WTA Finals, in particular. Iga Swiatek, who featured on the second day, had to respond after just a few hundred fans at most were inside the arena.
However, Coco Gauff and Qinwen Zheng's final was played in front of a packed house with no empty seats. After one of the best matches of the season, Gauff won an incredible battle 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.
The American received an extraordinary $4.805 million for securing her first WTA Finals title. Not even the four Grand Slams have ever offered that amount to a women's singles player for winning a tournament.
That amount is more than Gauff won at all her previous tournaments throughout the season combined, demonstrating the Saudi regime's financial power and why its influence will undoubtedly continue to grow.
Surprisingly, Gauff did not know the prize money for being the champion. The video below shows that the 20-year-old could scarcely believe how much she had earned by winning the WTA Finals.
"Oh really? Oh cool. Okay.... okurrr. Geez. I didn't know.... I mean I knew it was some money but I didn't know it was that much. Okay."
The journalist then asked how Gauff planned to treat herself with that unprecedented amount. Although she tried to answer, the world No. 3 remained visibly surprised while attempting to speak coherently.
"That mean a lot to me. How will I treat myself? I don't know. I mean... I bought a house, so.. I don't really know what else I want after that. I'm going to a music festival next week, actually. I'm not someone who spends a lot of money. So, I don't know what I'll do with it, that's a lot of money."
"What did you say? 4.8? Oh gosh, I hope I'm one of the highest-paid female tennis players this year, or athletes, that would be exciting. But no, honestly I wanted to win this for myself, I didn't know it was the biggest prize money on the Tour. I knew there was money, I've never played for this, but yeah, that's cool." (laughs)
Gauff's maturity at a young age has always been one of her defining characteristics, and that was proven again in her answer about the prize money. She may have a better idea of what to do with the money when the enormity of winning the WTA Finals sinks in.