Riyadh, Nov 10: Coco Gauff pays attention to what people say about her online and occasionally takes pleasure in clapping back, so it should not be a surprise that she took to social media to type out a message after wrapping up 2024 by winning the WTA Finals and the USD 4.8 million check that came with it.
“Lol! Safe to say I beat the bad season allegations,” Gauff wrote.
After defeating the women ranked Nos. 1 and 2 – Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek – earlier in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Gauff got past Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Saturday in the title match. That allowed the No. 3 Gauff to close her year with a 54-17 record and three trophies.
“There’s been a lot of ups and downs. At moments, it felt great. At other moments, it felt awful. Basically, a typical year on tour,” the 20-year-old Floridian said.
In Saturday’s final, Gauff produced more aces (five) than double-faults (four) and turned in a higher first-serve percentage (64 to 62) and a higher winning percentage on first-serve points (70 to 62) than Zheng, one of the tour’s top servers.
Gauff’s run included victories over Sabalenka (in the semifinals) and Swiatek (in roundrobin play), making her the youngest player to win against the top two women at one tournament since Maria Sharapova at the 2006 US Open. (AP)
