American Coco Gauff defeats her compatriot Jessica Pegula, ending a four-month dry spell.
US tennis star Coco Gauff has celebrated her first title win since her French Open triumph in June.
In the final of the WTA tournament in Wuhan, the world number three defeated her compatriot Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5. It was the 21-year-old Gauff’s eleventh tournament victory and her second this year.
Gauff bounces back after slump
After her Grand Slam success at Roland Garros, Gauff had fallen into a slump. She crashed out in the first round at Wimbledon, and her game continued to look unstable after that. In Wuhan, however, she put in a strong performance, dropping only 16 games on her way to the final—three of those in a clear 6-3, 6-0 victory over Laura Siegemund from Metzingen in the quarterfinals.
Against Pegula, ranked number six in the world, Gauff was already two breaks down (0-3) in the second set, but she was the stronger player in the decisive phase.
Pegula had surprisingly beaten world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals, handing the Belarusian her first defeat in her fourth appearance in Wuhan at the $3.654 million tournament.
