Champions Corner: Coco Gauff's focus on the future earns Beijing rewards

BEIJING -- The China Open title was never in Coco Gauff's plans. After bowing out in the fourth round of the US Open in her title defense last month, Gauff shuffled up her coaching team. The initial thought was to skip Beijing to give the 20-year-old American a solid training block. 

In the end, it was Gauff who stepped in and made the call. 

Beijing: Scores | Draws

"I kind of told my team I wanted to play Beijing," Gauff said. "We were planning on just coming to Wuhan. I just felt like I needed to play, have fun. I enjoy Beijing."

Gauff may be a player who relies on instinct, but the numbers back her up. In her tournament debut last year, she marched to the semifinals. This year, she did even better, battling through the week to pick up her first Hologic WTA Tour title since January and second WTA 1000 title overall. 

"I think last year, I won US Open and I was like, the rest of the season, I want to do well, but whatever -- just play and see what happens," Gauff told WTA Insider. "And then this time it was like, well, I haven't done so well. The tournaments that I really wanted to do well in, the Slams, that was over. So it was kind of, let's just see what happens here.

"I always think that this part of the season will always just be more relaxed for me."

It turns out, when Gauff keeps her expectations low, good things tend to happen. Looking to shore up her serve and incorporate smarter baseline aggression, Gauff played with intention and purpose in Beijing.

It wasn't always pretty, as she is the first to admit -- she had to come back from a set down in three consecutive matches to make the final -- but Gauff is proud of her ability to stick with the plan. 

"Everybody can do everything in practice," Gauff said. "This time, when the pressure is on the line, I was just trying to force myself to do things I was uncomfortable with. 

"So yeah, I think the result is now reassurance that I am in the right direction."

Gauff is confident that she won't let the Beijing title distract her from the task at hand. The project she undertook with coaches Jean-Christophe Faurel and Matt Daly wasn't designed for immediate gains. Her focus is on the future. 

"A lot of times people forget that I'm still in the developmental phase of my career and nothing is going to be great," Gauff said. "Most of the people doing well are 25 and older in the Top 10, maybe with the exception of Iga. We have a long way to go and I still have a lot that I need to work on and I'm proud of myself thus far.  

"I didn't have a complete game at 15 and I don't have one right now, but I've been on tour playing every week almost, trying to be better. I'm just super proud of that."

Here is a breakdown of more from the last two weeks in the Chinese capital:

Honor Roll

Karolina Muchova: After a 10-month injury hiatus, Muchova came back to tour almost as if she never left. She's 18-5 this year, reaching the Palermo final, making her second straight US Open semifinal, and reaching her second career WTA 1000 final this week.

Muchova fell just short of notching three Top 10 wins in a row in Beijing, but she did collect her third straight win over No.1 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarterfinals, then ended the run of No.5 seed and home hope Zheng Qinwen in the semifinals.

"I had some rest since the US Open," Muchova said. "I picked up pretty fast with the matches here. ... I think I picked up my form again and I performed well. I held my focus. I think just that I was pretty consistent in all those matches, which is nice to get to know that."

Zhang Shuai: What a resurgence for the 35-year-old veteran. Zhang triumphantly snapped her 24-match losing streak, notching four straight wins to make the quarterfinals. She even grabbed her first Top 10 win in two years by ousting Emma Navarro in the second round.

"I [will] try my best in Wuhan, the last couple of tournaments in China," said former Top 25 player Zhang, who should see her ranking rise over 300 spots from her current placement of No.595. "Let's see how far I can go."

Paula Badosa: It's another excellent result for the former World No.2, who beat No.2 seed Jessica Pegula en route to the Beijing semifinals. Since June, Badosa has won 21 of 26 matches, and her ranking has risen from No.113 to back inside the Top 20.

Yuliia Starodubtseva: The 24-year-old Ukrainian's breakthrough season has continually reached new heights. This fortnight, she collected the first three Top 50 wins of her career (including a Top 20 win over Anna Kalinskaya) and made the quarterfinals in her first WTA 1000 main draw.

Zheng Qinwen: The Olympic gold medalist and Chinese No.1 posted a strong result on home soil. She became the first Chinese woman to reach the Beijing semifinals since Wang Qiang in 2018.

Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini: The Olympic doubles gold medalists picked up their third team title of the year in Beijing, becoming the first Italian women to grab a China Open title.

Ajla Tomljanovic: Meanwhile at the WTA 125 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis event, Tomljanovic earned her second career WTA 125 title by overcoming Clara Tauson in a three-set final.

Hot Shots

A superb quarterfinal lineup at the China Open deserves a compilation of the best shots from each of the elite eight:

And going back to the first round, qualifiers Mananchaya Sawangkaew and Zarina Diyas executed a rally full of excellent angles. Thailand's Sawangkaew won that point and the match, for her first career win in a WTA main draw.

Notable Numbers

7: Coco Gauff becomes the first woman in the Open Era (since 1968) to win her first seven WTA hard-court finals. 

2: Gauff is the second American woman to take home the China Open title in the WTA tournament's 20-year history. Serena Williams is the other female American titlist at the China Open, winning the inaugural WTA edition in 2004 as well as in 2013. 

4: Since the WTA 1000 tier started in 2009, 20-year-old Gauff is the fourth player to win multiple WTA 1000 titles before turning 21. She joins Iga Swiatek, Caroline Wozniacki and Bianca Andreescu in that statistic.

49: World No.49 Karolina Muchova is the lowest-ranked woman to reach the China Open final in the event's history. She surpasses Maria Kirilenko, who was ranked No.45 when she won the 2005 title.

3: Zheng Qinwen is the third Chinese player to make a WTA 1000 semifinal, following Li Na and Wang Qiang.

From the Camera Roll

An exultant Jaqueline Cristian celebrates a win over reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in Beijing. It was the first career Top 10 win for Romania's Cristian, and she needed to save four match points to get it:

Coco Gauff battled back from a set down in three consecutive matches during her run to the China Open title, and the American proudly holds the spoils of her resilient run to the title:

Next Up

Another week, another WTA 1000 event in China. The Hologic WTA Tour heads to Wuhan for the return of the Dongfeng Voyah · Wuhan Open, which is back on the calendar for the first time since 2019. Fifteen of the world's Top 20 players are in the packed main draw.

Wuhan:  411 | Draw analysis | Scores | Schedule | Draws

Wuhan is the final WTA 1000 event of the year, as the players try to track down as many points as possible to improve their standings in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals Riyadh. Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka are the only singles qualifiers for Riyadh so far.

Looking forward to Wuhan: Sabalenka, Pegula reminisce before event's return

With Swiatek not playing in Wuhan, Sabalenka comes in as the No.1 seed. Sabalenka dominated at Wuhan before the tournament hiatus -- she is 12-0 at the event, grabbing the titles in 2018 and 2019.