Gauff takes down Sabalenka and is one win away from the WTA Finals crown

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — World No. 3 Coco Gauff upset No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals of the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF to advance to Saturday’s championship match. The 20-year-old American handed Sabalenka her second straight defeat in Riyadh, winning 7-6(4), 6-3 to become the third player since 2010 to score wins over both the world No.1 and No.2 at WTA finals.

With the win, Gauff became the youngest player to make the championship match at the WTA Finals since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. She is bidding to become the youngest WTA Finals champion since Maria Sharapova in 2004.

Gauff will face Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen for the title on Saturday. Zheng advanced to the final after defeating Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first semi-final. Saturday’s winner will take home a record $4,805,000, the largest prize money check in women’s tennis history.

WTA Finals Riyadh: Results | Schedule | Position

Friday’s semifinal pitted the two winningest hard court players against each other, with Sabalenka leading the tour with 40 wins on the surface and Gauff just behind her with 33. Gauff and Sabalenka split their eight previous meetings, but Sabalenka held the edge this season, besting the American in the semifinals in the Australian Open and the Wuhan Open.

Despite the two losses, Gauff entered the semi-finals full of confidence. In Wuhan, she took Sabalenka to three sets despite hitting a career-high 21 double faults. Sabalenka edged her out in the end, winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, but the 20-year-old left knowing the result would have been different had she minimized her serving errors.

That’s exactly what she did to avenge the loss on Friday. Gauff broke his 4-4 deadlock with Sabalenka with a solid display from the service line and gutsy work from the baseline. Gauff confidently swung through her forehand to beat Sabalenka with pace as she used her speed to extend points and test the top seed’s rally tolerance.

On this day, Sabalenka struggled to meet the challenge. Gauff edged Sabalenka into the win column in the tight opening set, hitting 11-6. Sabalenka hit 18 unforced errors. Both players broke twice in the opening set, but Gauff was able to sustain more sustained pressure, generating six break points to Sabalenka’s three.

When Sabalenka served at 6-5, Gauff broke her to force the tiebreak, the American racing to a 4-0 lead. Sabalenka broke back to 6-5 but hit her final unforced error of the set to give Gauff the set.

Gauff carried that momentum into the second set, breaking the match open and leading 4-1 before closing out her first victory over a reigning No. 1 since beating Swiatek en route to the Cincinnati title last summer. She is the youngest player to defeat the No. 1 and No. 2 at a single event since Maria Sharapova at the 2006 US Open.

Despite the loss, Sabalenka will still finish her 2024 campaign as world No.1 at the end of the year. The reigning Australian Open and US Open champion came to Riyadh to hold off No. 2 Iga Swiatek to end the year at the top of the rankings for the first time in his career. Sabalenka secured the top spot after Gauff defeated Swiatek in group play earlier this week.

More to follow….