Coco Gauff wins the China Open final: In the China Open final on Sunday, Coco Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova 6-1, 6-3 to win her second championship of the season.
The 20-year-old American, who is rated sixth, won the China Open at the youngest age in 14 years. In addition, she is the second American champion in Beijing, having won the title in 2004 and 2013 for Serena Williams.
“To be honest, it means a lot that Serena Williams was the last American woman to win this,” Gauff remarked. “It’s an enormous honor whenever my name appears in any sentence that hers does.”
Gauff won his eighth career championship. She achieved a first in the Open Era by improving her record in tour finals to 8-1 and now owns a 7-0 record in hard-court finals.
That’s really awesome, Gauff remarked. “I hope it gets broken by someone else. To be honest, I believe that records are designed to be broken.”
Gauff, who successfully defended her Auckland championship earlier in the season, lost the opening set in thirty-one minutes. She scored 24 winners on her first serve, gave up just five points, and broke Muchova five times.
Gauff’s victory in Beijing increased her odds of making it to the WTA Finals, which will once again include the world’s eight best players, for the third year in a row. With her victory, she will pass Jessica Pegula to occupy the fifth rank ahead of the Wuhan Open, which begins play on Monday, the last WTA 1000 event of the season.
At the Shanghai Masters, top-ranked Jannik Sinner defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 after trailing by one set.
The 23-year-old Italian faced a far tougher third-round test against the No. 37-ranked Argentine inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, which was forced to postpone play due to rain, the night after winning his 250th career match in straight sets.
Coco Gauff wins the China Open final:
Next up for Sinner is either Spanish player Roberto Carballes Baena or No. 16 ranked Ben Shelton, who defeated the Italian in this same venue last year.
In the opening set tiebreak, Etcheverry made the shot of the match with a breathtaking drop volley that gave him set point, which he converted to take the lead.
After trading breaks halfway through the second set, Sinner started to find his range more effectively and took advantage of another opportunity to tie the match.
In the third, Sinner took the lead and broke Etcheverry twice more to progress in two hours and forty-nine minutes at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, which had a retractable roof. Play was limited to the main court due to the heavy rain, and all outside court matches were rescheduled until Monday.
Sinner, who is going for his seventh championship this year, said, “I am very happy to get through this one. It was a very tough match, physically [and] mentally.”
Daniil Medvedev, ranked fifth, overcame Matteo Arnaldi in a thrilling 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 triumph to secure his fourth-round matchup against either Alexandre Muller or Stefanos Tsitsipas, ranked 12th.
The Italian claimed a close first set, forcing the 28-year-old Medvedev to dig deep to even the match.
Medvedev’s experience and poise paid off during the final set when he secured a crucial break in the final game while remaining firm to wrap up the game in two hours an 44 minutes.
Chinese player Wu Yibing was beaten beat second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz, 7-5 (5), 6-3, to win the Hong Kong Open on Wednesday and capture his fourth major championships on the season.