Coco Gauff played her first WTA 1000 singles final, which was a victory for the American as she defeated Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4 at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.
Coco Gauff was favoured ahead of this match for various reasons, some of which we touched upon in our preview of the final. It's been that kind of week for Gauff and, more broadly, that kind of month. From winning the Citi Open trophy in Washington to cruising through the Montreal rounds, Gauff looks like a new player.
Is it the Brad Gilbert effect, or is it simply Gauff figuring things out during a crucial part of the year? She's played well during this part of the season before. Last year at the US Open, Gauff looked incredible until she ran into Caroline Garcia. It's a similar story this year, but she's actually beating those top players, as the win over Iga Swiatek demonstrated.
The favourite tag was swiftly justified in this one as she jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, even though she lost it not long after that. Muchova is an intelligent player, she adjusts quickly and knows how to play against Gauff however, the athleticism of the American was always going to be a problem.
It proved quite the problem as Gauff kept pushing in each game, eventually winning a rather crazy opening set. We saw five breaks in total as Gauff caused all sorts of problems on return but struggled with her serve.
It was a great weapon against Swiatek, but Muchova had a better read on it, and it proved vital in keeping the match competitive. Muchova tried some things in the second set and had some break points but didn't get the breakthrough she needed.
Gauff was much more deadly when she got a chance, as she broke Muchova after that to take a 3-2 lead. Gauff would then add another break and, despite losing it immediately after, still finished things off 6-4. The final score was 6-3 6-4 for the American, who won her first WTA 1000 trophy.
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