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Aug. 21 (UPI) — Coco Gauff achieved a remarkable straight-set victory over Karolina Muchova in the final of the 2023 Western & Southern Open. This triumph not only marked her first Masters 1000 title in Cincinnati but also propelled her to No. 6 in the WTA rankings, just in time for the U.S. Open.
During the match at the Linder Family Tennis Center, Gauff capitalized on 5 out of 8 break point opportunities, winning with a score of 6-3, 6-4 against her Czech opponent ranked 10th in the world. At the age of 19, Gauff etched her name in history as the youngest women’s player to ever win the tournament.
“I’m just happy to be here in this moment,” Gauff expressed during her interview on the Tennis Channel broadcast.
Prior to this victory, Gauff had to overcome several challenging opponents, including No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, No. 35 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, No. 42 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, and No. 33 Mayar Sherif of Egypt, en route to her first major singles title.
Gauff’s impressive win in Cincinnati came shortly after securing her first WTA 500 title in the DC Open final on August 6 in Washington, D.C., where she defeated the eighth-ranked Maria Sakkari of Greece.
These recent achievements mark a rebound for Gauff, who faced disappointment during the Grand Slam events earlier this season. She was eliminated in the first round of Wimbledon in London and reached the quarterfinals in the French Open, where she lost to Swiatek. Additionally, Gauff made it to the fourth round of the 2023 Australian Open.
Next, Gauff will head to Flushing, N.Y., to participate in the 2023 U.S. Open. Her best finish at the Grand Slam event was reaching the quarterfinals in 2022.
The main draw for the men’s and women’s singles circuits will take place on Thursday in Flushing, with the main draw play starting on August 28.
In the WTA singles rankings, Swiatek remains at the top, followed by No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, No. 3 Jessica Pegula of the United States, No. 4 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, No. 5 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, and Gauff in the sixth position. The rest of the Top 10 is composed of No. 7 Caroline Garcia of France, Sakkari, No. 9 Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, and Muchova.
On the ATP singles standings, Novak Djokovic of Serbia retains the No. 2 spot after defeating No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the men’s final in Cincinnati.
The other Top 10 players in the men’s singles rankings include No. 3 Daniil Medvedev of Russia, No. 4 Holger Rune of Denmark, No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 6 Jannik Sinner of Italy, No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, No. 8 Andrey Rublev of Russia, and Americans Taylor Fritz (No. 9) and Frances Tiafoe (No. 10).
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