WTA Finals serves up another one-sided match as Gauff demolishes Jabeur
Coco Gauff has defeated Ons Jabeur 6-0, 6-1 to go top of the Chetumal Group at the WTA Finals in Cancun
(Chryslene Caillaud/Panoramic)
Coco Gauff has defeated Ons Jabeur 6-0, 6-1 to begin her campaign in the strongest possible fashion at the WTA Finals in Cancun, Mexico, on Monday evening.
The American bunny-hops Iga Swiatek to move top of the Chetumal Group following the win, which came in 57 minutes and was only prolonged courtesy of a rain delay early in the second set.
Gauff’s victory is the third contest at the WTA Finals to contain a 6-0 set, with just four matches being played so far. Yesterday, world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka beat eighth seed Maria Sakkari by the same margin.
Gauff on fire, rain can’t save Jabeur
It’s no secret that world No 3 Gauff has been the form player on the WTA Tour in recent months, but even by her standards the American made a fast start.
Reeling off forehand winners and thundering down powerful serves, Gauff blasted her way to a one set lead after barely 20 minutes. Across the opening exchange, Jabeur could only manage nine points, with the 19-year-old bringing the kind of level that saw her win the US Open in September.
Down a set and a break in the second set, it seemed as though the only thing that could help Jabeur was divine intervention. That’s exactly what she got, as the heavens opened in Cancun, forcing the players from the court for more than half an hour.
After the rain delay, Jabeur came out firing, immediately breaking Gauff’s serve and claiming her first game of the match. However, the Tunisian couldn’t sustain her comeback, quickly dropping her own serve and slipping to a resounding 6-0, 6-1 defeat.
The Chetumal Group will have the day off tomorrow, with Aryna Sabalenka taking on Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina squaring off against Maria Sakkari in the Bacalar Group.
