Coco Gauff prevailed in a three-hour title match Saturday at the 2024 WTA Finals to claim her first trophy at the prestigious year-end event. On Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the 20-year-old American edged Chinese Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen in the championship round. The world No. 3 previously beat No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals and No. 2 Iga Swiatek in round-robin play.
With her 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) comeback victory, Gauff became the fourth American to win the WTA Finals before turning 21, joining Chris Evert (1973, 1975), Tacy Austin (1980) and Serena Williams (2001). Gauff is the youngest champion at the season finale since Maria Sharapova (17, 2004) and the first American titlist since Williams won her fifth year-end trophy in 2014.
In the final, Gauff came back from a break down in the second set and twice recovered a break in the final frame, including stopping Zheng from serving out the match at 5-4.
"Just staying resilient, fighting for every point," Gauff said in her post-match press conference. "I know I was like a couple points away from losing, but I just tried to stay in the moment, honestly, and I'm really proud of myself."
The trophy is the third of Gauff's 2024 season (Auckland, Beijing) and the ninth of her young career. Her Riyadh run secured her the year-end world No. 3 ranking for the second straight season; she reached a career-high of No. 2 this June.
Now a perfect 8-0 in tour-level hard-court finals, including her title-clinching comeback against Sabalenka at the 2023 US Open, Gauff is 9-1 overall in title matches. Her reaction after match point showed just how much this one meant to her.
Coco Gauff poses with her 2024 WTA Finals trophy. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images for WTA. Coco Gauff poses with her 2024 WTA Finals trophy. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images for WTA.
"At the end of the match, when I, like, fell on the floor, I didn't think I was going to do that," Gauff said.
"I kind of made a promise to myself that I will only save that for Grand Slams. But honestly, to the way the match went, I was like, 'I'm just tired. I just want to lay on the ground.'"
Her hard work was handsomely rewarded with $4.8 million in prize money, more than doubling her previous winnings from the 2024 season. The payout is the largest in WTA Tour history.
Dabrowski/Routliffe win doubles title
The doubles championship at the 2024 WTA Finals was a rematch of the 2024 Wimbledon final. Gaining revenge for the result on the London lawns, Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe beat Katerina Siniakova and American Taylor Townsend, 7-5, 6-3, on Saturday in Riyadh.
The Canadian/Kiwi champions were a perfect 5-0 on the week and did not drop a set in the knockout rounds. The Riyadh title is their second this season as a team (Nottingham) and their fourth overall together—a tally that includes the 2023 US Open crown.
"We've been through a lot this year," Routliffe said, "and we've always stuck by each other and really committed to each other and supported each other. So I think this is kind of an accumulation of the entire year, and it means a lot."
Czechia's Siniakova, the WTA's doubles year-end No. 1, won five titles with five different partners this season—including with Gauff at Roland Garros.
