Coco Gauff beats Jessia Pegula for 2nd Cincinnati Open title

MASON − In the first All-American Cincinnati Open women's final since 1970, it was 22-year-old Coco Gauff who captured her second career Rookwood Cup with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jessica Pegula at the Lindner Family Tennis Center on Sunday, Aug. 23.

Fifty-six years ago, the last time two American women battled for the Cincinnati Open title (then called the Western Tennis Championships), Rosie Casals defeated the heavily favored Nancy Richey in straight sets (6-3, 6-3) at Cincinnati Tennis Club after three previous losses to the Texas native. The same day, Ken Rosewall rallied to beat Richey's brother, Cliff, in a three-set thriller (7-9, 9-7, 8-6) for the men's title.

Advertisement

The Enquirer's Denny Dressman wrote of those finals: "the greatest possible ending for the greatest-ever Western Tennis Championships" as upset and comeback walked hand-in-hand in East Walnut Hills.

More: Arthur Fils captures Cincinnati Open for first career ATP 1000 title

More: What does it take to be on the Cincinnati Open ball crew?

There were no such dramatics on Sunday as Gauff, who just three years ago became the first teenager to win the Cincinnati Open since 1968, punctuated a dominant week in Mason with her fourth career WTA 1000 title in a match that lasted just 1 hour, 14 minutes.

Advertisement

Gauff won 12 consecutive sets after falling behind 1-0 in the Round of 64 against Liudmila Samsanova Aug. 16. In that stretch, she won 73 of 105 total games.

"Either here or Wuhan," Goff said when asked if this was her most dominant tournament. "For the sake of my own mind and body, I was trying to get these done in two sets."

Gauff is the third player since the WTA came to Mason (2004) to win multiple Cincinnati titles, joining Serena Williams (2014, 2015) and Victoria Azarenka (2013, 2020).

In the 10th career singles meeting between the former doubles tandem that won three WTA 1000 tournaments together, Gauff jumped on Pegula from the jump, winning the first five games.

Gauff, the World No. 4, took the set 6-2, winning 3 of 4 break points while her accurate groundstrokes kept Pegula sprinting east and west along the baseline. Strategically picking her spots to attack the net, Gauff applied pressure throughout the match near the nylon, ending back-and-forth volleys with emphatic winners from short range.

Advertisement

Gauff won 65% of points on the first serve (to Pegula's 47%) and cashed in on 5 of 6 break points while logging 32 receiving points (to Pegula's 19). Pegula rallied from down 5-2 by holding serve, then breaking Gauff to make it 5-4, but Gauff ripped off four straight receiving points to take the title.

In her post-match interview on Center Court, Pegula admitted she felt like she didn't play bad, but Gauff was just too much.

"I thought the level that she (Gauff) was playing at was extremely high," said Pegula, who is now a two-time Cincinnati Open runner-up (2024). "It was tough today."

Gauff, the only player to reach three WTA 1000 finals this season, has her first title since defeating Pegula in the 2025 Wuhan Open. It is her 12th career WTA title.

It's a complete turnaround for Gauff, who last year turned to coach Gavin MacMillan after her serving difficulties hit a peak right here in Mason in a Round of 16 loss.

Advertisement

"Last year, I was just frustrated with my game, and I felt like I was declining. It's not something that any player wants to feel. You always want to feel like you're getting better," Gauff said. "I made sudden decisions that most people wouldn't do before a (Grand) Slam, but I think it's worth it."

She is projected to climb into the top 5 of the Race to the WTA Finals leaderboard heading into the US Open in New York. Pegula is projected to rise to No. 4. Pegula will remain the No. 3 seed and Gauff the No. 4 at the US Open, where Gauff won her first Grand Slam in 2023.

Click here to read article