Coco Gauff won four games in a row to beat Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 to win the Wuhan Open on Sunday in the all-American final.
21-year-old Gauff won her second title of the year – her first was the French Open – and now she has 11 titles in her career.
The world number three trailed 0-3 in the second set before saving the match at 3-5. She held and then broke Pegula to love at 5-5. Pegula's forehand volley into the net found the net to give Gauff her first match point, and with Pegula on her second serve she ended the contest with a forehand winner after a short rally.
Pegula staged her own comeback by defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals. But this time she lost momentum and missed out on her 10th career title as Gauff became the second American to win the title in Wuhan after Venus Williams in 2015.
This was their seventh meeting in their careers and their first in the final. Pegula leads 4-3 overall against Gauff, with whom she has won several doubles titles. After the match, Gauff praised her opponent.
“When I came on tour, you were one of the first people to be kind to me and welcome me with open arms. And that really means a lot and means a lot,” Gauff said during the trophy presentation. “That's why I appreciate you. And it's great to finally play in the finals against you.”
Pegula has gone the distance in all of her last eight matches, and she has won seven of them.
“You've played three-setters a lot – you're the queen of three-setters,” Gauff said. “I would like to congratulate you on an incredible tournament. I was determined not to let you get there today because I felt the odds would be in your favor in the third set.”
Gauff improved to 11-3 in the final; Pegula fell to 9-11. The victory complements Gauff's WTA 1000 triumphs in Cincinnati (2023) and Beijing (2024) and marks her third final at this level in 2025 after finishing second in Madrid and Rome.
