Coco Gauff pays attention to what people say about her online and occasionally enjoys applauding, so it should come as no surprise that she took to social media to write a message after closing out 2024 with a win. the WTA finals and the $4.8 million check that accompanied it.

“Haha, it’s safe to say I beat the bad season accusations.” Gauff wrote.

After defeating the women ranked 1 and 2: Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek: previously in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Gauff surpassed Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Saturday in the title match. That allowed No. 3 Gauff to close out his year with a 54-17 record and three trophies.

“There has been many ups and downs. At times, it felt great. At other times I felt terrible. Basically, a typical year on tour,” the 20-year-old Floridian said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

“Worst? Definitely my defeat at the US Open. I felt like it was a tough loss for me, because I double-faulted a lot,” Gauff said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I felt like I was close, but I just didn’t give myself the best chance.”

How did you leave that aside? 19 double faults, fourth round loss to Emma Navarro in September like the defending champion at Flushing Meadows? That’s an important question, because as disappointing as the setback was (where it happened, how it happened), it marked a pivotal moment.

From there, Gauff parted ways with coach Brad Gilbert and hired Matt Daly to work alongside Jean-Christophe “JC” Faurel on his team.

And from there, Gauff went 13-2 in his last three tournaments, including two titles and a semifinal.

“The key is that when you hit a low point, the only way to go up is up,” Gauff explained. “So at that point, I just said, ‘Well, I’ve got to get better at some things and try to do that.’ Being a tennis player, you can’t miss many tournaments just to practice. I mean, you can, but I didn’t want to do that; “I didn’t want to go down that path, so I decided to be willing to accept the losses and the wins while I worked on things.”

So far, so good.

A significant improvement: Gauff averaged 4.6 double faults in her five matches at the WTA Finals, certainly much better than at the US Open.

In Saturday’s final, Gauff produced more aces (five) than double faults (four) and had a higher first serve percentage (64 to 62) and a higher first serve point winning percentage (70 to 62) than Zheng . one of the best servers on the tour.

There was nothing easy about this triumph.

Gauff’s career included those victories over Sabalenka (in the semifinals) and Swiatek (in the round-robin), making the American the youngest player to win against the top two women in a tournament since Maria Sharapova at the US Open of 2006.

“She’s a fighter,” Sabalenka said of Gauff.

The final was a serious test of wills: the first WTA Finals championship match to be settled by a third-set tiebreaker and, at 3 hours and 4 minutes, more than half an hour longer than any title match in the event since records are kept. started in 2008.

“When you play this kind of match,” Zheng said, “it’s not about tennis, it’s just about choices on the court.”

At this still early stage in his career, Gauff appears to be making good decisions on and off the court. His response and recovery from what happened in New York illustrates this.

As is becoming the youngest champion at the WTA Finals, which is for the top eight women in the sport, since Sharapova was a teenager in 2004.

“Playing against the best of the best,” Gauff said, “makes me feel confident in my game.”

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Howard Fendrich has been an AP tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich

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