IN final WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing Coco Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova 6:1, 6:3. The American was clearly better. The Czech's only break came at the beginning of the second set, when she was leading with a 2-0 break. However, she quickly lost her advantage, and in the end, Gauff mainly watched her rival make more mistakes.
This is the second tournament title this year for the American tennis player after her January success in Auckland. For the second time in her career, she also turned out to be the best in a WTA 1000 event – previously in August last year in Cincinnati. Then in the final she also turned out to be better than Karolina Muchowa.
Winning again with a new coach
The Beijing win is even more important for Coco Gauff because it comes at the beginning of her cooperation with a new coach. After US Open she broke up with Brad Gilbert, who is today mentioned among the potential candidates to manage Iga Świątek. Gauff signed a relationship with Matt Daly. He is a former trainer of, among others, Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
Gauff had her problems in Beijing, including: in meetings with Naomi Osaka and Paula Badosa, but she reached the finals, where she proved to be more effective. Her final performances can be impressive – she boasts a record of 8-1. The 20-year-old's only defeat was two years ago in a match against Iga Świątek in Paris.
It's too early to say that Matt Daly has changed Coco Gauff, but it seems that the new surroundings have given the American some energy. We are reminded of Wojciech Fibak's recent words for Sport.pl in the context of Iga Świątek. – The question of whether the new coach should appear at the Tournament of Champions can be answered in two ways. On the one hand, Iga could perform with a reduced team, which has already happened in the past. However, I do not rule out that Iga will fly to Riyadh with a new coach and this will help her win the entire tournament. This has happened many times in the history of tennis – Fibak said.
Coco Gauff broke up with Brad Gilbert after a year and two months of cooperation. The beginning of their adventure was excellent – in the summer of 2023 they won events in Washington, Cincinnati and New York. Her last triumph was her first Grand Slam singles title. In the following months, the results were not as impressive, although the tennis player is still among the top players in the WTA. By winning in Beijing, he again begins cooperation with a new coach in a promising way.
Gauff reacts
After her success in China, Gauff decided to react to Internet users' attacks on with a trophy for winning in Beijing and the caption: “He only wins 250 category tournaments.”
“He has the mentality of a five-year-old,” one replied to the photo fans. Gauff decided to react to this: “Honestly, children have the best approach to life. They are positive and creative. I assume that my goal in this tournament was to enjoy tennis as I did in childhood, because then life was and is the most fun.” In the past, Coco Gauff interacted with fans many times, and blocked some of them with X.
Karolina Muchowa, who played well below her capabilities in the final in Beijing, may be in a slightly worse mood. She made a lot of mistakes and made poor tactical decisions. Many saw her as a favorite to win, because earlier in the quarterfinals she had eliminated Aryna Sabalenka after a brilliant match. However, in the fight against Coco Gauff she turned out to be helpless, also due to her poorer condition.
Signal for Muchowa
For Muchowa, the last period was successful anyway, because at the beginning of September she also reached the semi-finals of the US Open. She then lost to Jessica Pegula, who had eliminated Iga Świątek a round earlier. It is once again confirmed that when the Czech is healthy, she is among the best in the world. This year she was sidelined for several months, but when she returns to the game you have to be very careful with her.
However, duels with the highest stakes also remain a warning sign for Muchowa. She played in the final at the highest level for the sixth time and left the court defeated for the fifth time. Her only triumph was five years ago in Seoul, defeating Magda Linette in the final. This year, she lost the final in Palermo to Qinwen Zheng, and the most painful may be the final defeat in Roland Garros 2023 against Iga Świątek. The Czech then had an advantage in the deciding set, which she did not use. Just like in the recent semi-final in New York against Pegula.
– When I returned to the game in June, I didn't think about what would happen. After the US Open, I wanted to go to Asia to fight for enough points to secure seeding for next year Australian Open. I felt that I was playing better and better, but I didn't want any pressure, Muchova said before the final against Gauff. Words are words, but meetings in the decisive stages of tournaments are still a bit of a challenge for her.