Coco Gauff’s fine form continued on Sunday as she captured her fourth WTA 1000 title.
Gauff, the world number four, defeated Jessica Pegula 6-2, 6-4 to claim her second Cincinnati Open title in four years.
The American superstar has now given herself a chance of snatching the world number one ranking from Aryna Sabalenka at the US Open.
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Gauff might be playing the best tennis of her career, as evidenced by the significant improvements made to her serve and the dominant results she achieved in Cincinnati.
Andrea Petkovic and Mark Petchey reflected on Gauff’s recent triumph on the Big T Podcast.
Andrea Petkovic comments on Coco Gauff’s ‘scary’ forehand development
“I was texting Lindsay [Davenport] and saying this is about as well as I have ever seen her serve, and this is about as well as I have ever seen her play,” Petchey, the former coach of Emma Raducanu, said of Gauff.
“That was what was coming at me through the TV screen, and it’s not let up throughout the whole tournament.
“I think the thing with somebody as great as Coco, when she is playing that well, is that you don’t feel as though your normal game is good enough, so you actually play under your best because you are forcing it all the time.”
Coco Gauff’s last five tournament results
- Roland Garros: beaten in the third round by Anastasia Potapova
- Berlin Championships: beaten in the round of 16 [opening match] by Paula Badosa
- Wimbledon: beaten in the semi-finals by Karolina Muchova
- Canadian Open: beaten in the semi-finals by Elena Rybakina
- Cincinnati Open: defeated Jessica Pegula to win the title
Andrea Petkovic [pictured below], the former world number nine, then reflected on her own experiences playing the American.
“When she was 15 years old, I played her in the semi-final in Linz, and she went on to win the title,” the German began.
“She made the court feel so small that I felt like I had to get closer and closer to the lines, and eventually I started missing.
“I feel like she is back to basics, in that back in the day, if you can say so, it was impossible to break her.
“She was going for first and second serves, she was serving second serves at around 95mph, and there was a double fault here or there, but I had no chance breaking her.
“I think I lost 6-4, 6-4, and it was a break each in the set. And she was not missing her forehand. She was not necessarily putting as much pressure on you.
“This is the scary part, because now it looks like her forehand is stable and she can put pressure on that side on you,” Petkovic concluded.
Do you think Coco Gauff will win a Grand Slam title this year?
The last time Gauff won the Cincinnati Open, she went on to claim her first Grand Slam title in New York.
The American star defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Gauff will find out her path to the 2026 US Open title when the women’s singles draw is released later this week.
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As per OptaAce, Gauff has become the player with the fewest WTA-level hard court finals played in the Open Era to claim 10 titles on the surface.
Gauff has won 10 of her 11 hard-court WTA finals.
Her sole defeat on the surface came earlier this year when Aryna Sabalenka defeated Gauff in the Miami Open final.
Gauff will look to make it 11 in 12 when she competes at the US Open later this month.
The event, last won by Aryna Sabalenka, is set to take place from August 30 to September 12.
