Coco Gauff battled to a three-set victory over fellow American Jessica Pegula as she made a winning start to the WTA Finals at Indian Wells in California. Gauff, the 2024 champion, demonstrated resilience and superb athleticism to overcome 2023 runner-up Pegula 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2. At 22, Gauff became the youngest player to appear at five consecutive WTA Finals since Martina Hingis in 2000. "I'm really proud of myself for this one," she said. "To play a tournament like this with no preparation is something I've never done in my career, but I'm just really happy to get through." Gauff has won only one title this year, when she beat Pegula in the Cincinnati Open final in August.
Pegula, 32, won titles in Dubai and Charleston and reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open and US Open. She is only four wins behind Elena Rybakina's tour-leading 54 this season despite playing only one match since the US Open ended in September. Against Pegula, Gauff recovered from three break points down to hold for a 5-4 lead in the first set before breaking Pegula in the following game.
Pegula won each of Gauff's first three service games in the second set as she raced into a 5-1 lead, but Gauff took the next three games. Pegula, who wasted three set points when serving at 5-4, unleashed a yell of frustration and slammed her racquet into the ground after missing two break points in the following game. Pegula survived match point on her own serve to force then win a tie-break.
But Gauff dominated the deciding set, comfortably winning the first three games before converting a third match point and letting out an emotional roar. Next Gauff will face Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, who beat Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-4 in the opening match of the Finals. Pegula will take on Kostyuk.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing