STUBBORN GAUFF PREVAILS

She goes against coach’s wishes to compete at Wuhan Open, ends up lifting the trophy

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Coco Gauff overcame Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 on Oct 12 to clinch the third WTA 1000 title of her career in an all-American final at the Wuhan Open.

The third-seeded Gauff secured the trophy without dropping a set after a 1hr 42min battle in the central Chinese city.

In the first final between the for mer doubles partners, Gauff erased multiple deficits in the second set to improve her head-tohead record against Pegula to 3-4.

The 21-year-old in the process became the first player in the Open era to win her first nine hard-court finals.

"I'd like to thank my team; it was a great Asian swing," Gauff said in her victor's speech.

"I'm going to call JC (her coach Jean-Christophe Faurel) out here. He originally didn't want me to come because I had a tough US Open. But I had to prove him wrong. I'm a very stubborn person.

"So maybe he said that on purpose for me to have a good result here."

The pair had contrasting routes to the final with Gauff dropping a mere 16 games, while Pegula battled through three-setters in all eight of her previous matches.