Tennis News: Seventh-seeded Cori Gauff successfully defeated world 17th-ranked Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4 in the 2023 season finale of the Cincinnati Open.
The victory led the host tennis player to claim the second hard court tournament title of his career as well as the third title this season. Aged just 19, she is now the youngest women’s singles champion in Cincinnati Open history.
After winning titles in Auckland in January and Washington two weeks ago, the seventh seed is now the first teenager to win three titles in one season since Bianca Andreescu in 2019. She is also the first teenager to win any five since Caroline Wozniacki in the 2009 season.
Since the first Cincinnati Open was held in 2004, the 2022 French Open runner-up is now the fourth home tennis player to win the title, joining Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams and Madison Keys.
“I feel really good about how I’ve had this week,” Gauff said. “I had a big win the day before and this time too. Karolina is not an easy opponent. It was amazing to see her back in such stunning shape. I think she is one of the most talented tennis players in the tournament.”
With Jessica Pegula winning the title in Montreal last week, it was the first time an American has swept the WTA 1000 titles in Canada and Cincinnati. Additionally, it’s the first time an American has won back-to-back tournament titles at this level since the 2015 season, when Williams won in Cincinnati and her sister Venus won in Wuhan.
Since losing in the first round at Wimbledon this season, the 19-year-old has now won 11 of her last 12 matches and won the two biggest titles of her career to date.
In the first meeting between the two players, the hosts overcame a shaky start to neutralize Muchova’s attacks in the net area to go 5-1 in the final. With stable performances in the baseline area, he prevented the Czech tennis player from producing just four winners in the first set and committed 13 unforced errors.
Muchova entered her first career WTA 1000 level final after spending more than 10 hours on the court as she finished all of her matches before the final in three sets. After competing for 2 hours and 30 minutes against Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, the 26-year-old tennis player seemed to struggle to keep up with Gauff’s energy.
However, Muchova’s fighting power was still on display, including when she had three match point opportunities. But the effort was not strong enough to prevent Gauff from winning after 1 hour 56 minutes.
Article Tags: Tennis, Cincinnati Open, Cori Gauff, Karolina Muchova
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