Resilience and “pettiness” fires Gauff to season-ending glory

The American said having people tell her she was not going to win inspired her to her second-biggest title to date

Chryslene Caillaud / Panoramic

November 10, 2024

If you want Coco Gauff to show her best form, just tell her she can’t do something.

Bruised after seeing the defence of her US Open title end with a fourth-round defeat by Emma Navarro. In the semi-finals in Wuhan, her serve fell apart, with 21 double faults handing Aryna Sabalenka victory.

It was then that some people wrote off Gauff’s season, saying she needed to go away and fix technical issues in the off-season. Instead, the American dug deep again and marched her way to WTA Finals glory, beating Sabalenka and then Zheng Qinwen in the final.

lol safe to say I beat the bad season allegations 😭🫣
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) November 10, 2024

muah 💋💜 Also, I know tend to focus on “doubters/haters” but this one is really for all of my supporters! Ya’ll held it down for me win or lose! I thank you for that. I see you and I appreciate you. And I know some of you are a little bit petty like me so it does feel nice to… pic.twitter.com/z3rRFCsFYl
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) November 10, 2024

“I think I just love to say I’m right,” she said, asked about “pettiness” following her win over Iga Swiatek, when she overturned a head to head heavily in her opponent’s favour. “Specifically today, I got comments about how I was going to lose badly today, so I was just like, OK, we’ll see.

“(So) I think it’s just honestly just liking the idea of just proving people wrong and, and letting your racquet do the talking,” Gauff said, quoted by the WTA Tour website. “And so, yeah, I use it as motivation.”

Satisfaction high

It wasn’t easy; Gauff had to fight her way past Sabalenka and then, in the final, come from a set and a break down, and then twice from a break down in the third, to deny Zheng, who served for the match at 5-4.

The exhaustion at the end was trumped by the satisfaction of winning the second-biggest title of her career and the 20-year-old said she was hugely satisfied with her effort.

Just staying resilient, fighting for every point,” Gauff said. “I know I was like a couple points away from losing, but, you know, I just tried to stay in the moment, honestly, and I’m really proud of myself.”

Gauff is the fourth American to win the WTA Finals before the age of 21 and will now go into 2025 with renewed confidence.