Coco Gauff bids to finish her 2024 on a high by winning the WTA Finals.
The American enters the season-ending tournament on a high after a successful month of October.
Gauff won the China Open and reached the Wuhan Open semi-finals, and as a result she has climbed back to number three in the WTA rankings.
She has rediscovered her best form at just the right time and the former US Open champion is certainly a top contender for the title.
After Gauff hired Matt Daly to replace Brad Gilbert as her coach, things have been looking up. She claimed the title in Beijing and significant serving woes prevented her from ending Aryna Sabalenka’s undefeated streak in Wuhan.
This is something Stubbs alluded to during the latest episode of her self-titled ‘Rennae Stubbs’ podcast, and claimed she will win the WTA Finals with the improvement of that one shot.
“This is what I will say about Coco. If she serves less than six double faults in her matches, no matter what match she plays, she will win the tournament,” Stubbs said. “If you are serving 20, 21 doubles faults in a match and you lose 6-3, 6-4 in the third.
“I’m pretty sure if you get your serve in you will win. That was the last loss against Sabalenka. She is hitting the ball so well, she is arguably the best mover on the tour, her backhand is as good as anyone’s on tour, her first serve is as big as anyone’s on tour.
“It’s a matter of getting her second serve in court and not getting it handed to her. Let’s hope after her last match she has gone to Florida and really put the work into getting that second serve to the point where she feels like she can get it in. Under six double faults per match the likelihood is that she wins every match.”
Gauff has been placed in the WTA Finals’ orange group along with Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula and Wimbledon winner Barbora Krejčíková.
This group is completely wide open, with Gauff being the only form player coming in following her title in Beijing.
However, Gauff has a losing head-to-head record against each of the other players in her group. Krejčíková has won their only meeting at Roland Garros in 2021, and she has just one win from 12 matches against Swiatek.
Furthermore, Gauff has just one win in five against her doubles partner Pegula, who made the US Open final in September.
The psychological battle may prove to be a factor, but Gauff is feeling more confident about her game and she will have the belief she can win the WTA Finals and have a strong end to what has been a difficult season.
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