At the WTA Finals on Friday, Coco Gauff overcame 17 double-faults and mobilized to advance from a game away from elimination. She defeated Marketa Vondrousova, the Wimbledon champion, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in a round-robin match.
Gauff stated her remarks in the post-match interview and said: “Mental toughness is the biggest thing I’m pleased with. That was a tough match. She’s not an easy player. Not easy conditions. And I stayed in there, every point, just fighting.”
From leading the first set to losing it and trailing 1-0 in the second, Gauff dropped four straight games and 16 of 21 points. An early rain delay of twenty-five minutes may have given Gauff a chance to get back on track
However, in the second set, Vondrousova prevailed 6-5 on the serve to seal the victory. Gauff remained in it after breaking there. In the third set, too, Gauff trailed for a little while before winning five of the final six games. In the group stage, Vondrousova had a 0–3 record.
Gauff added: “Every match, you want to win, but I knew that I needed to get at least a set, and hopefully a win to even have the chance to move on. so I’m really happy I was able to buckle down and do my best to get through that.”
Coco Gauff in 2023
Currently the world no.3 (career-high), the American played her last match on the 3rd of November when she defeated world no.6 Marketa Vondrousova 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 in the round robin in Cancun (draw).
At present, during this year Gauff has achieved a compiled 51-15 match record. Gauff clinched 4 titles in 2023 in Auckland, Washington, Cincinnati and U.S. Open.
Marketa Vondrousova in 2023
Now ranked no.6 (career-high), Marketa played her last match on the 3rd of November when she was defeated by world no.3 Cori Gauff 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 in the round robin in Cancun (draw).
This year the Czech has managed to achieve a composed 40-17 record. The Czech has won 1 title in Wimbledon.
Coco Gauff and Marketa Vondrousova faced off 3 times. The head to head is 3-0 for Gauff. The last time they competed against each other, Coco Gauff won 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 in the round robin in Cancun (WTA Finals) on the 3rd of November 2023.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Coco Gauff and Marketa Vondrousova |
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