Karolina Muchova full of praise for Coco Gauff’s defensive attributes ahead of their China Open final
Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova will battle for the third time in their careers, with the American winning both of their previous matches.
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Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova (via X)
Czech player Karolina Muchova praised Coco Gauff ahead of their China Open final. This will be their third meeting, with Gauff winning both of their previous matches. Muchova believes their final will be very close, with only a few key points deciding the outcome. She highlighted Gauff’s strong defense as a major reason for her success and thinks it will be important in the final.
Their first match was in the 2023 Cincinnati Open final, where Gauff won 6-3, 6-4, capturing her first WTA 1000 title. They met again in the semifinals of the 2023 US Open. Gauff won that match 6-4, 7-5, and went on to win the tournament.
[Coco Gauff] is such a great athlete. She can run, left, right. She’s like a moving wall. It’s tough to hit some winners and make it shorter.
Karolina Muchova in her post-match press conference
Muchova, 28, is playing in her sixth career final and second at the WTA 1000 level. This is her second final of the season, having finished runner-up to Qinwen Zheng in Palermo. She is aiming to win her second career title, with her first being at the WTA 250 in Seoul in 2019.
Muchova has already beaten top players like No.2 Aryna Sabalenka and No.7 Zheng in Beijing. If she wins the final, she could become the first player in tournament history to beat three Top 10 players in one event.
Karolina Muchova vs. Coco Gauff: All you need to know about the China Open Final
A year ago, Coco Gauff won her first WTA 1000 title by beating Karolina Muchova in the Cincinnati Open. On Sunday, October 6, the singles and doubles finals will take place in Beijing. The doubles final starts at 4:30 p.m. (local time), followed by the singles at 7:00 p.m. (local time). Reaching the final guarantees Gauff and Muchova 650 points and $585,000, while the winner gets 1,000 points and $1,100,000.
Gauff, ranked No.6 and seeded No.4, has made her first final since January. She has beaten Clara Burel, Katie Boulter, Naomi Osaka (retired), Yuliia Starodubtseva, and Paula Badosa. The 2023 US Open champion came back from a set down in her last three matches.
Muchova, who had wrist surgery in February, returned to action this summer. Unseeded in Beijing, she entered the main draw after World No.1 Iga Swiatek withdrew. The Czech player has only lost one set in the tournament and made her second WTA 1000 final.
Muchova has beaten Anna Blinkova, Aryna Sabalenka, and No.7 seed Qinwen Zheng. This is the first time since Cincinnati that she has defeated two Top 10 players in one event.
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Fahad Hamid
(628 Articles Published)