Road to the WTA Finals: How Gauff course-corrected and played her way back to form
Editor’s note: Starting Monday, Oct. 20, we’re publishing Road to the WTA Finals, an eight-part snapshot of the qualifiers and the form they bring to Riyadh. Check back all week for new installments.
More from the WTA Finals
- Monday, Oct. 20: Road to the WTA Finals: How Sabalenka has set the standard in 2025
- Tuesday, Oct. 21: Road to the WTA Finals: Swiatek proved versatility is her greatest weapon
Over the course of a 10-month season, a tennis player will face a series of highs and lows. In some cases, even for the best in the world, circumstances can change in a matter of weeks.
World No. 3 Coco Gauff reached the highest of highs in early June, when she upset World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to win the French Open, her second career Grand Slam.
Then came the lows. A first-round exit at Wimbledon. Struggles with her serve. The decision to hire biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan, to help correct the serve and cut down on the double faults. An earlier-than-expected exit in New York, where she was clearly not in the best state of mind.
But then came the Asian swing, where the American admittedly feels relaxed and stress-free. When the 21-year-old arrived in Beijing, it was obvious that a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Since then, all she’s done is win. Armed with an improved serve and a calm post-Slam headspace, Gauff won nine of 10 matches in runs to the China Open semifinals and the Wuhan Open title, where she bested Top 10 foes Jasmine Paolini and pal Jessica Pegula to win her third career WTA 1000 title.
Asia seems to be Coco’s happy place -- no one on the Hologic WTA Tour has won more matches in Asia over the past three years.
And let’s not discount the start of Gauff’s season. She won nine straight matches in Australia to kick off 2025, then went an absurd 18-3 during the clay season, reaching the finals in Madrid and Rome before bringing home the trophy in Paris.
She’s as well-rounded and dangerous as they come, and she’s only getting better.
Gauff’s 2025 Season By the Numbers
2025 Record: 47-14 (9-2 in doubles)
2025 Titles: French Open (Grand Slam), Wuhan (1000), Montreal (1000; in doubles)
Previous WTA Finals Appearances: 2022 (lost in group stage), 2023 (lost in semifinals), 2024 (won the title)
Best WTA Finals Result: Gauff had a dream run in Riyadh last year. After losing to Barbora Krejcikova in her opening match, she beat Pegula before upsetting Iga Swiatek and Sabalenka to reach the final. In the championship match, she outlasted Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in an epic that lasted 3 hours and 4 minutes.
Defining Moment of 2025: Her French Open title, which solidified her as more than just a one-Slam wonder and established her as a major champion across surfaces. As remarkable as her 2023 US Open title was, this was, in many ways, even more impressive.
Notable Stat: How clutch is Gauff on hard courts? The eye test makes it obvious to anyone who’s paying attention, but the numbers confirm it. The Florida native has played in nine WTA Tour finals on hard courts and won all of them. No other player in the history of the tour has won their first nine hard-court finals. If Coco makes it back to the final in Riyadh next month, she’s a pretty strong bet to win it.
Defining Quote of 2025: “I just show people what it’s like to be human. I have bad days, but I think it’s more about how you get up after those bad moments, and how you show up after that. I think today I showed that I can get up after feeling the worst I’ve ever felt on the court.” -- Gauff after breaking down in tears during her 7-6 (5), 6-2 win over Donna Vekic in the second round of the US Open
What This Title Would Mean (+ What to Watch for in Riyadh)
Brad Kallet: Winning back-to-back WTA Finals would be a statement that Gauff is as good as anyone on the biggest stages in the sport. It would also be a testament to her resilience, maturity and ability to bounce back (see quote above) after a difficult stretch. To win Wuhan, and then the Finals, so quickly after her serve spiraled would be special.
She's had such a cool and calm approach in Asia. Can she carry that into Riyadh, with more at stake, against the best players on Earth? If so, she's a strong bet to win again.
Greg Garber: Given the pressure and the superb level of competition, repeating at the year-end championships is very, very difficult. It’s only happened four times in the past quarter century of play -- Kim Clijsters in 2003, Justine Henin in 2007 and Serena Williams in 2013 and 2014. But Gauff is built to do this. With so much attention on her serve and forehand, it’s easy to forget that her backhand, quickness and defense are elite. More importantly, she is a gamer, one of the best in big-stakes matches. Gauff has never lost a hard-court championship final.