Coco Gauff took down Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 6-4 in Sunday’s final to win the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio.
It marks Gauff’s first title at a WTA 1000 event — two weeks after she won in Washington for her first career WTA 500 title. At 19, she became the youngest woman to capture the title at the Cincinnati-area event.
Gauff, the No. 7 seed, took down World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland for the first time in eight attempts in Saturday’s semifinal match before defeating Muchova, who is ranked 17th in the world.
On Sunday, Gauff won 35 of 50 first-service points (70 percent) and saved six of nine break points.
Gauff won four of the final five games in the first set. Then she took a commanding 5-2 lead in the second set by breaking Muchova’s serve twice. She failed to convert on three match points in the eighth game of the set but got it done in her next service game.
Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up, upset No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on Saturday to advance to the final. She will crack the top 10 of the world rankings on Monday despite losing to Gauff.
–Field Level Media