Gauff celebrates at home, wins second in August alone

19-year-old Coco Gauff (USA, World No. 7) is in peak form heading into the US Open. Gauff swept the WTA Western & Southern Open to win her third title of the season. However, two of her victories came in the United States this August. Her overall record in August this year is 11-1 (91.7%).

On Tuesday (Aug. 20), she defeated Karolina Muhova (Czech Republic, World No. 17) 6-3 6-4 in the women’s singles final at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. It was a hard-fought match that featured eight breaks in the entire match.

Gauff looked shaky in the first set, unlike the rest of the match. After winning over 70% of her first serves in previous matches, she hit just 53% in the first set. He didn’t serve a single ace and committed five double faults. Gauff was used to capitalizing on her offense with a powerful serve, but that wasn’t the case in the final.

Instead, Gauf opted for an attacking approach. Mujova is a player who often invites net play with drop shots and slice shots. On this day, he tried to get to the net first and showcase his different scoring routes, but Gauf countered with bold passing shots and angle shots. With more precise groundstrokes, she was able to neutralize Mujova’s potential defenses.

Overall, the first set was 33-25 in favor of Gauff. Both on serve and on return, Gauff outplayed Mujova. His serve, his strongest weapon, was not his usual self, but he showed that he could overcome Mujova with rallies alone.

The second set was more of the same for Mujova. She couldn’t capitalize on her serve either. She had three double faults in the second set alone, and none of her serve indicators put her ahead of Gauff.

Mujova’s serve has never been her strong suit anyway. Mujova needed to force her opponent into mistakes with a variety of attacking tactics, which Gauf didn’t do, and she pushed her style hard. Instead, it was Mujova who made the mistakes.

Midway through the second set, Mujova dropped two consecutive service games. That was pretty much the end of the match. As Mujova’s final forehand return sailed off the sideline, Gauf threw his racket up in the air in celebration. She had become the youngest singles champion in Western & Southern Open history.

For the first time in her career, Gauff has reached the top of the WTA 1000 tour. It was her fifth career tour title, having previously won one 500 and three 250 events. 메이저놀이터

It comes after a strong start to the US Open Series in early August, when she won the title at the City Open (WTA 500) in Washington, USA. In three tournaments in August, she won two titles and reached one quarterfinal. She warmed up for the final Grand Slam of the season. Her world ranking rises slightly to No. 6.

Mujova had to settle for her second runner-up finish of the season. After a brief lull following her runner-up finish at the French Open, she showed that she has regained her form in this tournament. She finished 10th in the live rankings, securing her first career top 10.

Gauff and Muhova will take a week off before returning to action next week at the final Grand Slam of the season, the US Open. It will be interesting to see if they can continue their upward trend at the US Open.