WTA Finals flashback: 184 minutes later, Gauff had nothing left but the trophy

Supremely gifted wunderkinds, they first met in Plantation, Florida at the end of the 2018 season.

American Coco Gauff was only 14 years old, and China’s Zheng Qinwen a savvy 16. Gauff came from behind to win the Orange Bowl girls’ 18s singles title in three sets. In a tournament that showcases the world’s best juniors, Gauff was the youngest champion in 15 years.

At the 2024 WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the two youngest players in the dazzling field reached the final. Their combined age (42) made them the youngest finalists in the year-end championship, two decades after Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.

“Six years later,” Gauff said, “here we are.”

Road to the final

Those WTA Finals were essentially the 2024 All-Star Game, featuring the eight best singles players over the course of the demanding season.

Gauff was a champion in Auckland and Beijing, but the year after breaking through with a title at the US Open, she failed to defend her title. And yet, the 20-year-old came alive in China, winning nine of 10 matches in Beijing and Wuhan. In Riyadh, Gauff defeated the No. 1-and No. 2-ranked players, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, in a span of three days, both times in straight sets.

Going into the match against Swiatek, Gauff had lost 11 of 12 matches to the then-five-time major champion. The 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Sabalenka sent her into the final.

Zheng also had won two titles on the Hologic WTA Tour, and picked up a singles gold medal at the Paris Olympics. The 22-year-old arrived in Riyadh on a tear, winning 12 of 15 matches at the US Open, Beijing and Wuhan. The momentum carried her to group wins over Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini before a loss to Sabalenka. In the semifinal, Zheng handed Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova a straight-sets defeat, vaulting her to the final in her first year-end appearance.

After 55 Hologic WTA Tour tournaments across 25 countries -- with 35 different champions -- the season came down to a single match.

An epic climax

The crowd at the King Saud University Indoor Arena was already buzzing when the players were announced, but when they stepped on court it got loud -- and, at the end of a long year, that energy clearly carried the players.

Zheng was the aggressor out of the box, leaning on her flat forehand and booming serve. She took the first set, saving all five break points, in just under an hour and was up 3-1 in the second when Gauff crept back into the match. Reading Zheng's serve increasingly better, Gauff broke her in the sixth (at love) and eighth games to take the frame.

Twice in the third, Zheng was up a break and actually served for the match at 5-4. But the immense pressure led to four unforced errors, allowing Gauff to draw even. The American finished with a flourish, playing a dominant tiebreak and winning the match 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Match time: An exhausting, exhilarating 3 hours and 4 minutes. Six years after the Orange Bowl, Gauff was again the winner in a deciding set -- and took home the Billie Jean King Trophy and nearly $5 million.

In the end, Gauff outserved Zheng, hitting more aces (6) and unreturned serves (29) and winning 70 percent of her first-serve points.

“Just staying resilient, fighting for every point,” Gauff said afterward. “I know I was like a couple points away from losing, but I just tried to stay in the moment, honestly, and I'm really proud of myself.

“I never gave up.”

Epilogue

This ultimate match made all kinds of history. Gauff:

Became the youngest WTA Finals champion in 20 years, since Sharapova won in 2004 -- the year Gauff was born.

Won the longest year-end final since they started tracking them in 2008.

Extended her perfect run through eight hardcourt finals to 8-0, an Open Era record.

Zheng had become only the second Chinese player to reach the WTA Finals final, after Li Na in 2013.

“This match is very [much about] endurance, instead of explosive tennis,” Zheng said. “Yes, a lot of physical, but I would say sometimes, maybe in this match, I wasn’t that patient.”

When the last shot dropped, so, too, did Gauff.

“At the end of the match, when I fell on the floor, I didn’t think I was going to do that,” Gauff said. “The way the match went, I was like, ‘I'm just tired. I just want to lay on the ground.’”

After all that running, the brief moment of stillness felt earned.

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