American tennis sensation Coco Gauff ended her season in style on Saturday, beating China’s Zheng Qinwen 3-6 6-4 7-6 (2) to win the WTA final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 20-year-old capped a run that saw her become the youngest player since Maria Sharapova in 2004 to win the prestigious tournament reserved for the world’s best players.
Gauff’s triumph comes with a staggering prize money of more than $4.8 million, the largest prize in WTA history, according to Tennis Channel.
Gauff added further footnotes to the record books, becoming the youngest player to beat the reigning world No. 1 and No. 2 at the WTA Finals since Kim Clijsters in 2002, according to Opta.
Coco Gauff stunned world number 1 Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (4) 6-3 in a back-and-forth semi-final thriller on Friday.
Earlier in the tournament, Gauff beat number 2 Iga Świątek 6-3 6-4 in the group stage.
And in a neat symmetry, Gauff and Zheng, 22, were also the youngest duo to make the final since 2004, when a 17-year-old Sharapova beat 23-year-old Serena Williams.
The Chinese star defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková in the semi-final, becoming the youngest player to reach the final in her first appearance at the tournament since 2011.
“I asked about (the record) as soon as I got the match,” Gauff said of the historically young final, according to the WTA. “I asked, ‘Was he the youngest?’ It has to be some sort of record. I asked the Sky team what the answer was. They didn’t have it, but it’s good to know.
“It was 2004. The year I was born was the last time, so in my life, basically, I never saw him. It’s pretty cool. This just goes to show that age is a two-way number, old and young.
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