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American tennis player Coco Gauff booked her place in the Wuhan Open final for the first time in her career after defeating Jasmine Paolini in straight sets on Saturday.
The American third seed, who had lost all three previous meetings with the Italian this year, finally turned the tables with a 6-4, 6-3 win to secure a spot in the final against either defending champion Aryna Sabalenka or sixth seed Jessica Pegula.
Reflecting on her performance, Gauff said, “It was 3-0 this year, but I think our head-to-head is even now. I’m really happy with how I played today. It was tough, especially on serve, but I did what I needed to do to get through.”
The semi-final was a contest dominated by return games, with both players struggling to hold serve.
An extraordinary sequence of 11 consecutive breaks saw the momentum constantly shifting until Gauff finally held serve in the seventh game of the second set, paving the way for an 82-minute triumph.
The 21-year-old has now reached her fifth WTA 1000 final and third of the 2025 season.
“I’ve played a couple of finals this year, so I have a lot of experience. Whatever happens tomorrow, I’m proud of the effort I’ve put in this tournament,” she added.
For Paolini, victory in Wuhan would have guaranteed her a place at next month’s WTA Finals in Riyadh. Currently ranked eighth in the Race to the WTA Finals, she will now need to confirm her qualification at one of the remaining tournaments in Ningbo or Tokyo in the coming weeks.
