Coco Gauff heads to the WTA Finals in Riyadh as the defending champion after a season that showcased both her ceiling and her resilience. The world No. 3 claimed her second Grand Slam at the French Open in June and added another WTA 1000 trophy with a title run in Wuhan, arriving with strong momentum.
Gauff’s Journey Through the 2024 Season
Her year swung sharply between highs and lows. After a breakthrough spring on clay that included an 18-3 record, finals in Madrid and Rome, and the championship in Paris over the world No. 1, she stumbled at Wimbledon with a first-round exit and later endured an early departure in New York. Serving troubles contributed to that dip, prompting her to bring in biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan to fine-tune her motion and reduce double faults.
The reset took hold on the Asian swing. Relaxed and steady, the 21-year-old won nine of her last 10 matches, reaching the semifinals in Beijing and lifting the trophy in Wuhan with victories over Top 10 opponents Jasmine Paolini and Jessica Pegula. No player has amassed more match wins in Asia over the past three seasons on the WTA Tour.
Gauff also opened 2025 fast, winning nine straight matches in Australia before her dominant clay campaign. Her season record stands at 47-14 in singles and 9-2 in doubles, with titles at Roland Garros, Wuhan, and a doubles crown in Montreal.
Her track record at the WTA Finals has climbed steadily: group-stage exit in 2022, semifinals in 2023, and the title in 2024. Last year in Riyadh, she recovered from an opening loss to Barbora Krejcikova and defeated Jessica Pegula, Iga Swiatek, and Aryna Sabalenka before outlasting Zheng Qinwen in a three-hour final.
A notable statistic underlines her big-match edge on hard courts: Gauff is nine-for-nine in WTA finals on the surface, the best start to hard-court championship matches in tour history.
This season’s defining moment came in Paris, where her second major confirmed her as a multi-surface champion. She also showed mental toughness during the summer, including a tearful but composed win at the US Open that she later framed as proof of her ability to rebound from difficult moments.
If she defends her title in Riyadh, Gauff would join a short list of players to win the year-end championships in consecutive years over the past quarter century — a group that includes Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, and Serena Williams. Her improved serve, elite backhand, speed, and defense, combined with a calm approach in recent weeks, position her as one of the leading contenders to close 2025 on top.