Gauff races to second title of 2024 with China Open cruise

Coco Gauff claimed the China Open title in emphatic fashion on Sunday, bringing up her second WTA Tour trophy of the season.

The world number six defeated US Open semi-finalist Karolina Muchova 6-1 6-3 in just 76 minutes to be crowned the youngest winner of the China Open in 14 years.

Gauff swiftly broke the Czech's serve to propel herself into a 2-0 lead before going on to dominate the first set, which lasted only half-an-hour.

Muchova looked to be surmounting a comeback in the second set, breaking immediately, but Gauff fought straight back, and the American broke Muchova once more to race to victory in Beijing.

It was an impressive win against an opponent who had defeated world number two Aryna Sabalenka and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen en route to the final. Gauff played 24 winning shots but restricted the world number 49 to just 14.

It marked Gauff's second WTA 1000 title, making her the second-youngest player since the format was introduced to win her first two finals, only older than Bianca Andreescu.

Making her mark On her 101st match at a WTA 1000 event, @CocoGauff captures the #ChinaOpen title! pic.twitter.com/Z74WrYnSCy

— wta (@WTA) October 6, 2024

Data Debrief: Gauff a proven winner

Gauff, who was playing her 101st WTA 1000 match, is now the first player to win each of her first seven WTA hard-court finals in the Open Era.

Her victory meant she became the second American player to win the women's singles title at the China Open after Serena Williams (in 2004 and 2013 since the inception of the tournament in 2004.

Gauff has now defeated Muchova in all three meetings in WTA events, previously beating her at the US Open and Cincinnati Open in 2023.