Gauff accidentally confirms WTA Finals qualification

Coco Gauff will be competing in the WTA Tour’s year-end championships, and she had a hilarious moment talking about it at the 2024 Wuhan Open.

For many top tennis players, the main goal of each season, besides winning titles, is to qualify for the year-end championships. For Gauff, qualifying for the WTA Finals was clearly one of the goals for this season, and she achieved that goal.

She collected enough points to qualify for the WTA Finals already at the Wuhan Open, as with the remaining tournaments and points it would not be possible for enough players to overtake her, leaving the American player outside the elite. .

However, there is a slight discrepancy between when a player qualifies for the WTA Finals and when it is announced, which made for a hilarious situation at the 20-year-old’s press conference in Wuhan.

When asked about the WTA Finals, Gauff confirmed that she saw herself qualifying for the tournament as it was mathematically impossible to not qualify again.

However, it sometimes takes a while for the WTA to officially announce the news, as they often want to conduct an interview with a qualified player to create a news story.

Therefore, it may take some time for the WTA to confirm a player’s qualification, even if it has been clear for a few days that he has already mathematically qualified for the tournament.

This led to the hilarious moment in Wuhan when Gauff stated that she was told not to say anything because her participation had yet to be announced, but she was able to mathematically verify for herself that there was no scenario in which she would not appear. qualify.

“I saw that I had qualified for the ranking race. Oops, they said they hadn’t announced it yet. If you look it up online, there’s a check mark next to my name. They told me not to say anything. Sorry. But it is by my name (laughter). So I’m here.”

“I found out maybe two days ago. I don’t remember which lap, quarter-hour or something like that. Yeah, I’m very happy to be qualified. I’m happy to go there. To be honest, it was like whatever .” Something’s happening. Obviously you want to do the more positive thing.”

For Gauff, the 2024 WTA Finals, set for November 2-9 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be special in many ways. It will be her third participation in the event.

She lost in the round-robin stage of her first event, having reached the semi-finals last year. If that progression continues, the American player could challenge for a trophy in Riyadh.

In addition, it will be the first time that she will only participate in the WTA Finals in singles, as she decided earlier this season not to play doubles anymore.

“I think it’s my third in a row. It’s the first time I’m not playing doubles, so it’ll be a different experience. But I’m excited. I’m looking at dresses. They have a lot of things planned for us. I’m super excited .Yes, I heard it’s going to be great, so I’m excited.”