After the triumph in Washington, the 19-year-old American also wins the first WTA 1000 in her career and becomes one of the main candidates for the US Open title
Coco Gauff means business. The nineteen-year-old American hits her second title in a few days in Cincinnati (after her in Washington), her fifth in her career, beating the Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4 in the final. For the number seven in the world she is the most important victory of her career, the first WTA 1000 and one week before the start of the US Open she is a candidate, overwhelmingly, to loose cannon of the last slam of the season.
consecration
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Beating world number one Iga Swiatek in the semifinals only confirms the excellent feelings about a player who exploded so young and who has been at the top of the rankings for so long that she seems like a veteran, but Gauff is a class of 2004 and the consecration, the definitive one, this time seems one step away. The fact that for about a month she has been followed by a super coach like Brad Gilbert, flanked by former player Pere Riba (with his father always present but in the background), cannot be a coincidence. Gauff looks different and Cincinnati proved it: now that the first really heavy victory of her career has arrived, she can be a pretty good springboard.
excellent management
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A final managed quite well by the American, where the first set was important, rather tense for both: it seemed clear that whoever took it home would have put a serious mortgage on the match. First time they faced each other, in their first 1000 final, and today the arm weighed a lot. Yesterday they had accomplished two great feats, playing rather well against the number 1 and number 2 in the world (Muchova had beaten Sabalenka), today the atmosphere was inevitably different. In the second set, Gauff flew 5-2 and there was a bit of emotion, but the 19-year-old handled it well, taking the match home. On Monday, Gauff will be number 6 in the world, while Muchova will be top 10 for the first time. Not bad for both.
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