WUHAN, China (AP) — Coco Gauff reeled off four straight games to beat Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 and win the Wuhan Open on Sunday in all-American final.
The 21-year-old Gauff won her second title of the year, having won the French Open on clay, and she now has 11 career titles.
The third-ranked Gauff served to save the second set at 5-3 down. She held and then broke the sixth-ranked Pegula to love for 5-5.
Pegula's forehand volley at the net landed wide to give Gauff a first match point and, with Pegula on second serve, she clinched it with a forehand winner following a brief rally.
“Winning every match (in the tournament) in straight sets, I don't know if I've done that before on a title run,” Gauff said. “I just felt like I was really proud of what I accomplished this week, regardless of the result today.”
The 31-year-old Pegula rallied to beat top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals. But this time she lost momentum and missed out on a 10th career title as Gauff became the second American to claim the Wuhan title after Venus Williams in 2015.
It was their seventh career meeting and first in a final. Pegula leads 4-3 overall against Gauff, with whom she has won several WTA doubles titles.
“When I came on tour, you were one of the first people to be nice to me and welcome me with open arms. That really went a long way, so I appreciate you," Gauff told Pegula at the trophy ceremony. “It’s great to finally play in the final against you. I hope for many more.”
Gauff improved to 11-3 in finals; Pegula dropped to 9-11.
“We’ve spent a lot of time together and, even though I’m a bit older, I always admire and respect her so much,” Pegula said. ”She’s just so mature for her age."
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.