For the first time in their young careers, Coco Gauff and Qinwen Zheng reached the final of the WTA Masters at the end of the season.
The final of the WTA Masters in Riyadh will pit two debutants at this level of the competition on Saturday: the American Coco Gauff, 3rd in the WTA rankings, who beat the two best players in the world this week, and the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, who surfs on the best season of his young career.
Gauff, Grand Slam title winner at the 2023 US Open and semi-finalist this season in Australia and at Roland Garros, will start as a slight favorite against the Paris-2024 Olympic champion, who is playing her first Masters in Riyadh. The two players have only faced each other once on the circuit, in the quarter-final this season at the Rome tournament. The American won in two sets (7-6, 6-1). “To be honest I’m not really nervous“, assured Gauff, judging that his simple qualification for the Masters was already a great “reward» to crown his season. After beating world No.2 Iga Swiatek in a group match, the 20-year-old Floridian defeated world No.1, Aryna Sabalenka, in two sets on Friday 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 .
The first set was full of twists and turns. While she dominated the start of the game, Gauff missed two break points which would have allowed her to lead 4-2. Suddenly more precise on serve, particularly on her first balls, Sabalenka on the contrary managed to take her opponent’s serve at the end of the set to take control (6-5, service to follow). But Gauff took advantage of his opponent’s numerous unforced errors to immediately break (6-6) and then fly through the tie-break, winning 7 points to 4.
The second round was more clearly to the advantage of the American, who quickly gained a comfortable lead (4-1). The sixth game nevertheless offered more spectacle, Sabalenka managing to take her opponent’s faceoff on her eighth break point. Gauff procrastinated less when it came time to conclude, winning the second set 6-3 on his first match point. Eliminated in the pools in 2022, semi-finalist last year, she won her ticket for the final in her third participation in the Masters.
“Amazing”
The Chinese Qinwen Zheng, 7th player in the world, discovers the tournament which brings together the eight best players of the season. In the semi-final, she made short work of the Czech Barbora Krejcikova (6-3, 7-5).
At 22, the Olympic champion from Paris took the lead from the start by breaking from the first serve of Krejcikova, 13th in the world (2-0). Against the 28-year-old Czech, the Chinese won the first set in 40 minutes with authority over a new ace. She started the second round the same way, with a break. Krejcikova, who had beaten Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff – already qualified – to get out of her group, this time appeared feverish, like a double fault which caused her to lose her serve again (3- 0).
In the process, Zheng was less dashing, losing her serve and giving her opponent hope. But with a new unforced error from the Czech, the Chinese ended up winning on her second match point. “It’s my first Masters and I’m in the final, it’s incredible», savored the Chinese, who “didn’tnot panic» after the end of the second set «complicated».
The first Chinese player to emerge from the Masters pools since Li Na, a finalist in 2013, Zheng could be the first representative of her country to win this prestigious tournament which brings together the best players of the season.
