Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to face off in the Wuhan Open final
American tennis player Coco Gauff defeated Jasmine Paolini at the Wuhan Open, securing a place in the final where she will face her compatriot Jessica Pegula. Gauff defeated Paolini with a score of 6-4, 6-3, despite committing seven double faults. The young tennis player managed to prevail in a match where both players had difficulties with their serves. For her part, Pegula achieved an epic victory against Aryna Sabalenka, number one in the world, with a score of 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2). This victory, in addition to securing her place in the final, ended Sabalenka’s streak of 20 consecutive victories in Wuhan. The final showdown will mark the first encounter between Gauff and Pegula in a final, although Pegula leads the head-to-head record with a score of 4-2. Gauff, currently ranked number three in the world, demonstrated her resilience by recovering from three breaks in the second set, including a series of five consecutive double faults. She ultimately won the last four games to secure her place in the final.Despite her service challenges, Gauff has demonstrated outstanding performance this season. With 378 double faults, she leads the women’s circuit in this statistic, but she has also achieved an impressive record of 13 victories over top 10 players in WTA 1000 events before turning 22, the most since 2009. Jasmine Paolini, ranked fifth, had eliminated Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals and had won her previous three matches against Gauff, all played this season. Jessica Pegula, ranked sixth, came back from 5-2 in the final set, winning four games in a row. Sabalenka saved two match points in the following game, forcing the tiebreak. Sabalenka won the Wuhan Open in 2018, 2019, and again in 2024, following the event’s return to the circuit.I did what I had to do to move forward.
Coco Gauff
