Coco Gauff conquers the most important title of her career
The 19 year-old American won the WTA 500 tournament in Washington against the Greek María Sakkari in straight sets for her fourth win on tour.
Coco Gauff was crowned champion of the WTA 500 Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington this Sunday, after beating the Greek María Sakkari by 6-2, 6-3. This is the biggest tournament the teenage sensation has won in her young career.
Gauff, number seven in the world at just 19 years old, won the fourth tournament of her career and the second of 2023 after winning in Auckaland at the beginning of the year. In 2019, the American had won at Parma and Linz, but since then had not lifted a title on the WTA 500. She took down Sakkari, who is number nine in the world in straight sets and breaking a a bad spell against the Greek after losing in four of their previous five matches.
Gauff became the third American player to win this in Washington D.C. after Sloane Stephens and Jessica Pegula and is the youngest champion in the tournament from the nations capital. It took her one hour and 26 minutes to topple Sakkari and closed the tournament without losing a set, while eliminating the defending champion Russian Liudmila Samsonova along the way.
Against Sakkari, Gauff kept her confidence at the beginning of the second set when the Greek broke her serve, but Coco responded to take the title.