When Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka stared each other down in Wuhan a month ago, Gauff clearly had the edge as she methodically established a set and break lead. But then, out of nowhere, her serve crumbled in spectacular fashion. Although she fought brilliantly until the end, she was torpedoed by no fewer than 21 double faults.
Having been on the tour for half a decade, it’s sometimes easy to forget that at the age of twenty, Gauff is still growing and still a work in progress. During this week, Gauff has shown the results of some of that progress as she arrived in Riyadh with significant adjustments to her game and she has used them to play the best tennis of her career. On Friday, Gauff produced a brilliant performance against world number 1 Sabalenka, reaching the final of the WTA Finals with a spectacular 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory.
In the final, Gauff will face Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen in a battle of the two youngest players in the top 10. Zheng extended her stellar breakthrough season by reaching the final round of the WTA Finals for the first time in her career . , holding off a spirited comeback from Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova before recording a tough 6-3, 7-5 victory. The 22-year-old will rise to a new career high ranking of at least No. 5 following her performances in Riyadh.
Throughout Gauff’s short career, no aspect of her game has come under more scrutiny than her forehand, which she strikes with an extreme Western grip and has often been vulnerable against the best players in the world. This week, however, Gauff’s weaker groundstroke was extremely solid. After parting ways with her former coach Brad Gilbert after the US Open and hiring Matt Daly in his place, Gauff has also changed her hold on her serve motion.
Those improvements were all evident in her rematch against the best player in the world, Sabalenka. In a scrappy opening set, Gauff served well and she absorbed Sabalenka’s immense pace brilliantly with her forehand, maintaining consistent depth throughout. Meanwhile, she made the court seem so narrow for Sabalenka with her remarkable defense. Although Sabalenka served for the set, Gauff got the break back before playing an extremely clean tiebreak and then refusing to give up her momentum. This time she hit only two double faults.
Short manual Norrie ends up waiting to reach the ATP final in Metz
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Cameron Norrie reached his first ATP Tour final of the season at the Moselle Open in Metz, beating Frenchman Corentin Moutet 6-2, 7-6 (5) to guarantee a return to the top 50.
It will be Norrie’s first final since he won his fifth ATP Tour title in Rio in February 2023 with victory over Carlos Alcaraz. The British No.2 has been in and out of form since then, returning to action last month after almost three months away with a forearm injury.
Norrie broke in the first game of the match to take control of the first set, only for Moutet to break again early in the second set. But his opponent fought back with four games in a row before Norrie steadied the ship and forced a tie-break. Moutet led the score 5-2, but Norrie dropped five points to seal the win in straight sets.
“It’s been a tough year for me and I’ve never really been able to get any momentum going, so it’s nice to end the last week of the year with a final,” Norrie said. ‘I was just fighting for every point again. It was also nice to reach my first indoor final… I’m really happy.”
Norrie will play another Frenchman, Benjamin Bonzi, in the final after fighting back in the second semi-final to beat Alex Michelsen 4-6, 6-0, 7-5. PA media
In recent months, Sabalenka has played the best tennis of her career. She won her third Grand Slam title at the US Open, plus the WTA 1000 events in Cincinnati and Wuhan, winning 21 of 22 matches. But this time she looked tired and tense as she failed to match Gauff’s intensity. 2024 was the best season of her career, but Sabalenka ended the year with a heavy defeat.
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Meanwhile, Zheng’s run to the final in Riyadh is the result of remarkably consistent form since this summer. Despite reaching her first grand slam final at this year’s Australian Open. Zheng’s real breakthrough came when she claimed a historic Olympic singles gold medal in Paris, scoring an incredible win against Swiatek along the way, and her momentum has only continued to grow since then. After compiling a 31-5 record since mid-July, Zheng will look to cap off a spectacular season with another major title.