Wuhan Open Win Cements 21-Year-Old’s Top-Ranked American Status
It was a lengthy, all-American final between two-time Grand Slam Champion Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the Dongfeng Wuhan Open Championship Finals, and it proved to be every bit of the top-10 thriller that it was. Sixth-ranked Pegula leads the head-to-head between her and third-ranked Gauff by four wins to two; the last time they faced off was last year in the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia, where Gauff triumphed in straight sets, only allowing her opponent five games with the score 6-3, 6-2. Gauff demonstrated her skills and outmaneuvered Pegula with endurance, winning the match 6-4, 7-5, and solidifying her position as the first overall American women's tennis player.
Overall Game Approach
Gauff’s quick rise on tour since her pro-debut at 14 years old is attributed to her exceptional agility and speed on the court, and she still remains the fastest player on the women’s tour today, as well as one of the fittest. She’s only grown more into it as the years have passed, and remarkably, her on-court movement almost seems to be actually supplemented by her groundstrokes, rather than the other way around. The French Open winner makes it to every corner of the court with plenty of time to spare, and has excellent, consistent shot selection that keeps her in the rally if she needs to be; but she also has the weapons to punish a shot to secure the point if she’s in the perfect position to– her particular favorite being the backhand down-the-line. This blend of consistency, court-coverage, athleticism, and low-error, but solid groundstrokes makes her a nightmare to deal with, a nightmare Peguala had to, and failed to figure out.
Pegula, on the other hand, is unfortunately more reckless when compared to her competitor. Reckless, that is, both in this match’s shot selection and surveying the game’s tide for what it is. She also faced other shortcomings in regard to her consistency, which was quite jarring and served her terribly. Tiredness likely played a factor here, as she had to battle through many three-set matches to come to this final; even toppling top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the Semifinals, while Gauff only dropped 16 games on her own way to the final. However, the fact remains, loose ends seriously did harm. Despite her powerful baseline striking ability and fairly agile court-coverage, she is nowhere near Gauff’s level in movement, worst still, with fatigue to contend with. Simple rally balls from Gauff that put her under no pressure whatsoever, too many times she dumped into the net or hooked out.
Another decision I couldn’t begin to understand was Pegula’s constant drop shots to her opponent, the very same who there is hardly a ball she cannot reach. After the first few failures, where Gauff got to the short ball and fiercely defended the net, I thought Pegula would have stopped. The two are former doubles partners, after all, and Gauff is one of the few singles players on tour who actively plays both singles and doubles at nearly every tournament. She loves the net, Pegula should know that very well, and if she might have forgotten, the repeated overhead and volley putaways should have been plenty of reminder enough, yet she continued to drop shot to the end, to her own detriment.
What Worked and What Didn’t
Gauff played a patient and almost perfect groundstroke game, starting out slow to feel out her opponent, before spreading her wings properly into more and more aggressive shots; both forehand and backhand. It rewarded her quite well, in the form of 24 winners, though she also clocked 22 unforced errors. While the number is uncomfortably close, she still gave respect to the rule of keeping winners higher than errors, and it’s not as if Pegula was not actively trying to win as well. However, Gauff’s serve, which has always been a point of difficulty in her career, took a hard bump in the second set, where she double-faulted five times in her first service game of the second set, and that early break largely contributed to her having to come from behind. She recovered, of course, but in the match overall, had a total of eight double faults, only offsetting it with four aces. Definitely not something to help her cause, I think she might not have to run so much and grind out as many points if she had a less shaky serve, even if she is able to thrive with her current method.
Pegula did quite well with down-the-middle rallies and found impressive inside-out winners at times, but others just led to errors. Gauff kept her on the run as well, which she did not enjoy, all in all leaving her with 24 unforced errors and just 13 winners for her efforts. The second set was more fruitful for Pegula, which is why she had a fighting chance to win it at 5-4, but she couldn’t close it out. Gauff faced nine break points and was broken four times, and on the flip side, she pushed Pegula to eight break points and broke her six times. Both women were incredible at the net, but Pegula really gave her younger countrywoman a chance to shine there, simply from the fact of how many drop shots and short balls she provided her to punish.
Gauff’s well-fought brings the two’s head-to-head Pegula leading it 4-3. Other than securing her dominance and ranking among her countrywomen, the 2025 French Open Champion has also created a new record. For the first time in the Open Era, she’s become the first player to win nine straight hardcourt finals, matching Serena Williams’ record. The next major tournament to come is the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Gauff herself is the defending champion. From November 1st to 8th, the top eight singles and doubles teams will compete for the final championship title of the year.
