WUHAN, China – Coco Gauff played four straight matches to beat Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 to win the Wuhan Open in an all-American final on Sunday.
The 21-year-old Gauff won her second title of the year after winning the French Open on clay, and she now has 11 career titles.
“Winning every match (in the tournament) in straight sets, I don’t know if I’ve done that before during a title run,” Gauff said. “I felt like I was really proud of what I accomplished this week, regardless of today’s result.”
Third-seeded Gauff served to save the second set when trailing 5-3. She held on and then broke sixth-seeded Pegula to love at 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 placed it with a forehand winner after a short rally.
The 31-year-old Pegula rallied to beat top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. 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.
“We spent a lot of time together and even though I’m a little older, I always admire and respect her immensely,” Pegula said of Gauff. “She’s just so mature for her age.”
Gauff improved to 11-3 in the final; Pegula dropped to 9-11.
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