Wuhan title fight boosts confidence in defending WTA Finals title – Tennis Now

By Richard Pagliaro Monday, October 13, 2025
Image source: Wuhan CVG Open

Coco Goff’s At the Wuhan Open, she won her 11th singles championship.

Gough, who is ranked third, believes this is a springboard to success in Riyadh.

Goff won four straight games in the All-American finals, defeating his former doubles partner Jessica PegulaIn Sunday’s Wuhan Open final, 6-4, 7-5. Gauff improved her record in hard court finals to a perfect 9-0.

The two-time Grand Slam champion is the first woman to win nine consecutive hard court finals since Serena Williams won 12 consecutive titles from 2013 to 2015.

It’s Gauff’s first title since defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka to win Roland Garros last June, and the fact that she’s only played 25 matches en route to a third WTA 1000 title in Wuhan has given her plenty of confidence ahead of her title defense at the WTA Year-End Finals in Riyadh next month.

“Going through that mid-season performance, especially in New York, it definitely makes me more confident going into the WTA Finals,” Gauff told WTA.com.

“It gives me a lot of confidence to defend this title.

“Obviously, after winning the title last year, I know how tough it is, so I’m going to take it game by game and hopefully I can win the trophy in the end.”

The WTA Finals will be held from November 1 to 8, and the contestants include four American players Gauff, China Open champion Amanda Anisimova, Pegula and Australian Open champion Madison Keys.

Gauff, ranked third in the world, currently leads fourth-ranked Anisimova by 1,949 points, both of whom are vying for the U.S. year-end championship.

A year ago, Gauff defeated Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in the WTA Finals Championship.^(2), Defeating world No. 1 Sabalenka and No. 2 Iga Swiatek along the way, he received a WTA record $4.805 million championship check.

While Goff’s comprehensive court coverage and technical spin have earned her success on clay, the Delray Beach-born baseliner said she’s most comfortable on hard courts.

“I definitely think this is my most faithful surface,” Goff said. “Growing up, I loved the certainty of bouncing and knowing when to stop and when to leave.

“Many people think [it’s] clay. I don’t know my favorite surface. I feel like it’s still a hard court game for me. “