American player Coco Gauff defeated her compatriot and friend Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 at the Wuhan Open, a WTA 1,000, and received a boost of confidence after an uneven season, that started well with the victory at Roland Garros in June, but was followed by a series of defeats, including a fourth-round elimination from US Open by Naomi Osaka. The 21-year-old player adds her eleventh WTA singles title, shortly before her title defence at the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November, and adds a 9-0 win to her ratio on hard-court finals.
"This definitely gives me a lot more confidence going into the WTA finals, after the way the mid-part of the season went for me, especially in New York. It gives me a lot of confidence to try to defend that title" Gauff told after the match (via Reuters). "Obviously, winning it last year, I know how tough it is to do, so I'm just going to take it match by match and hopefully I can end up with the trophy."
Gauff also commented on what it meant to be playing against her friend Jessica Pegula, who she claimed the Miamo Open doubles title in 2023, for the first time in a final. Gauff said that Pegula was one of the first "to be nice to me and welcome me with open arms" when she joined the tour.
This is the second title for Gauff this year, currently World No. 3 in the WTA rankings.