She only just TURNED 20 this year.
World No. 3 Coco Gauff came out swinging in her first match of this year’s WTA Finals in Riyadh, defeating Jessica Pegula in straight sets in an all-American round-robin clash, 6-3, 6-2.
And with that victory, Gauff achieved a number of things.
First of all, she snapped Pegula’s 14-match winning streak against fellow Americans. Pegula hadn’t lost to a compatriot since falling to Madison Keys at last year’s US Open.
Second of all, it was her biggest win in a year. Her victory over the world No. 6 was her biggest win since beating a No. 6-ranked Marketa Vondrousova at last year’s WTA Finals.
And last but certainly not least, it was the 20th Top 10 win of her career. It’s pretty incredible given she’s still only 20 years old.
Gauff recorded the first Top 10 win of her career five years ago—as a 15-year-old—at the indoor event in Linz in 2019, defeating a No. 8-ranked Kiki Bertens en route to her first WTA title there.
COCO GAUFF’S 20 CAREER TOP 20 WINS:
d. No. 8 Bertens in ’19 Linz QFs
d. No. 4 Osaka in ’20 Australian Open 3rd Rd
d. No. 4 Sabalenka in ’21 Rome 3rd Rd
d. No. 1 Barty in ’21 Rome QFs
d. No. 4 Badosa in ’22 Doha 3rd Rd
d. No. 7 Pliskova in ’22 Berlin QFs
d. No. 6 Sabalenka in ’22 Toronto 3rd Rd
d. No. 4 Pegula in ’23 Eastbourne QFs
d. No. 9 Sakkari in ’23 Washington D.C. F
d. No. 10 Vondrousova in ’23 Montreal 3rd Rd
d. No. 1 Swiatek in ’23 Cincinnati SFs
d. No. 10 Muchova in ’23 US Open SFs
d. No. 2 Sabalenka in ’23 US Open F
d. No. 6 Sakkari in ’23 Beijing QFs
d. No. 7 Jabeur in ’23 WTA Finals RR
d. No. 6 Vondrousova in ’23 WTA Finals RR
d. No. 7 Zheng in ’24 Rome QFs
d. No. 9 Jabeur in ’24 Roland Garros QFs
d. No. 10 Jabeur in ’24 Berlin QFs
d. No. 6 Pegula in ’24 WTA Finals RR
Pegula had beaten Gauff the last three times they’d played, including in the semifinals of the WTA Finals last year, but Gauff looked like a woman on a mission in Riyadh on Sunday.
After the two traded breaks early on, Gauff broke one more time for a 4-2 lead and rode that break to the first set.
The second set followed a similar pattern at first—Gauff broke for a 2-0 lead, then Pegula got the break back to even it up at 2-all—but that was Pegula’s last stand, as Gauff reeled off the last four games in a row from there to close it out.
She ripped one last forehand winner—her 16th winner of the match, to Pegula’s eight—on match point.
“It was a tough match. She’s always a tough opponent. Overall I’m just happy with how I played,” she said afterwards. “I think we were both playing at a high level, I was just able to break through on some of the more important points.”
The 2023 US Open champion was right about that—she converted five of her eight break point chances in the match.