Coco Gauff defeated Marketa Vondrousova in her last round-robin match at the WTA year-end competition, the 2023 WTA Finals.
The 2023 WTA Finals have gathered a lot of attention, but not for good reasons. But despite all the controversies surrounding the venue, Gauff was all business, winning her first-ever match at the WTA Finals after going winless last year.
However, after that, she had to go through a real heartbreak, when she hit four consecutive double faults in a crucial game, and as a result, lost to her nemesis Iga Swiatek in her second robin match.
However, despite the loss, the group was wide open ahead of the American's last round-robin match against Marketa Vondrousova. The Czech player was winless, but she still had a chance to advance.
However, with the % of sets won, possibly the % of games won, every game played was in favour of the 19-year-old, who didn't have an ideal start, losing the first three games of the match.
Yet, she managed to overcome the slow start, recovering both lost breaks and leveling the score of the match at 3-all. But despite leading 5-4 later in the opening set, the 2023 US Open champion wasn't able to keep her advantage, losing the first set 5-7.
The set was marked by crazy weather, which also troubled the match between Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina. It was suspended multiple times because of rain, and multiple times, players left the court and returned again to continue.
The second set followed a similar storyline, as neither of the players managed to get into the rhythm, and that resulted in some interesting twists and turns throughout the second set, which was so crucial.
First, Gauff led 4-1, and served for the set at 5-3, before Vondrousova broke her serve twice and served for the match at 6-5. Yet, the youngster broke her serve once more, and this time around, she took the match into the decider in a tie-break, winning it 7-4.
While Vondrousova had no chance of qualifying anymore, for Gauff, it was a very important set that could decide if she'll make it to the semifinals of the 2023 WTA Finals, as she has to wait for the conclusion of the match between Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur.
After winning the second set, Gauff continued her charge toward an important win, and she did everything necessary to achieve that in the third set. The young American was the better player, winning the match 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3.
Now, the 19-year-old will need to see how well Jabeur does against Swiatek. Any other result than the Tunisian's 2-0 victory sends Gauff into the semifinals of the 2023 WTA Finals.
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