Coco Gauff wins WTA Finals for the first time by rallying to beat Zheng Qinwen

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Coco Gauff won the WTA Finals for the first time by rallying to beat Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) in the final on Saturday.

The 20-year-old American came from 2-0 and 5-3 down in the final set and was two points from defeat at one stage.

Yet she took the set to a tiebreaker and won the first six points. Zheng threatened a comeback but Gauff took the victory off her third match point with a forehand winner as she came into the net.

She is the first American to win the Finals since Serena Williams in 2014, and received $4.8 million in prize money. She also is the youngest player to win it since Maria Sharapova in 2004, the year Gauff was born.

Gauff beat the world’s top two players — Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek — on her run to the final at the season-ending event in Riyadh.

She felt vindicated after that and appeared to take a swipe at observers who wrote her off.

“I just love to say I’m right. Specifically today, I got comments about how I was going to lose badly, so I was just like, 'OK, we’ll see,'" Gauff explained. "It’s honestly just liking the idea of just proving people wrong and, and letting your racket do the talking. And so, yeah, I use it as motivation.”

Zheng was looking to complete a season in which she reached a grand slam final for the first time at the Australian Open and delivered China’s first Olympic tennis singles gold medal.

“The match today, it’s just a couple of important points,” Zheng said. “The match was very close."

Gauff edged the three-hour final which included 26 break points. Gauff also won their only previous meeting, in the Rome quarterfinals on clay in May.

Gauff beat Sabalenka at age 19 in last year's U.S. Open final to win her only major in singles to date. She teamed with Katerina Siniakova to win the French Open doubles this year.

In the WTA doubles final, Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand beat Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend of the United States 7-5, 6-3. They are the first players from Canada and New Zealand to win the doubles title.

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China's Qinwen Zheng waves as she holds her trophy after losing against Coco Gauff of the U.S. in their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. holds her trophy after winning against China's Qinwen Zheng in their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. reacts after winning against China's Qinwen Zheng in their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Winner Coco Gauff of the U.S., left, and runner-up China's Qinwen Zheng hold their trophies after their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. holds her trophy after winning against China's Qinwen Zheng in their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

From left, Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski, New Zealand's Erin Routliffe, Taylor Townsend of the U.S. and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic pose ahead of their women's doubles final match of the WTA finals at King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Taylor Townsend of the U.S., left, and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic talk to each other during a changeover in their women's doubles match against New Zealand's Erin Routliffe and to Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski in the final of the WTA finals at King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski, left, talks to New Zealand's Erin Routliffe during their match against Taylor Townsend of the U.S. and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the women's doubles final of the WTA finals at King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

China's Qinwen Zheng plays a shot against Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. plays a shot against China's Qinwen Zheng during their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

China's Qinwen Zheng reacts after winning a point against Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

China's Qinwen Zheng plays a shot against Coco Gauff of the U.S. during their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates a point against China's Qinwen Zheng during their women's singles final match of the WTA finals at the King Saud University Indoor Arena, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. (AP Photo)

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at least 46 people in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, including 11 at a makeshift cafeteria in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone, medics said. In Lebanon, warplanes struck Beirut’s southern suburbs and killed 33 people elsewhere in the country on Tuesday.

The latest bombardment came as the United States said it would not reduce its military support for Israel after a deadline passed for allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The State Department cited some progress, even as international aid groups said Israel had failed to meet the U.S. demands.

In Lebanon, large explosions shook Beirut’s southern suburbs — an area known as Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah has a significant presence — soon after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for 11 houses there.

There was no immediate word on casualties. The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure, including command centers and weapons production sites, without providing evidence.

Another Israeli strike on an apartment building east of Beirut killed at least six people. Wael Murtada said the destroyed home belonged to his uncle and that those inside had fled from the Dahiyeh last month. He said three children were among the dead and other people were missing.

An Israeli airstrike on a residential building in central Lebanon killed 15 people, including eight women and four children, and wounded at least 12 others, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. The strike came without warning, and state media said the building was sheltering displaced families.

Israel has been carrying out intensified bombardment of Lebanon since late September, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and put a stop to more than a year of cross-border fire by the Lebanese militant group.

A rocket exploded in a storage building in the northern Israeli town of Nahariya on Tuesday, killing two people, first responders said. Another two people were wounded by shrapnel in a separate impact outside the town.

A Hezbollah drone smashed into a nursery school near the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Tuesday morning, but the children were inside a bomb shelter and there were no injuries. The impact scattered debris across the playground.

At the same time, Israel has continued its campaign in Gaza, now more than 13 months old, triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel.

An Israeli strike late Monday hit a makeshift cafeteria used by displaced people in Muwasi, the center of a “humanitarian zone” that Israel’s military declared earlier in the war.

At least 11 people were killed, including two children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Video from the scene showed men pulling bloodied wounded from among tables and chairs set up in the sand in an enclosure made of corrugated metal sheets.

A strike on a house in the northern town of Beit Hanoun killed 15 people on Tuesday, including relatives of Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat, who has been reporting from the north.

Mohamed Shabat and his wife Dima, both volunteer doctors at Kamal Adwan Hospital, were killed along with their daughter Eliaa, according to hospital director Hossam Abu Safiya.

Strikes in central and southern Gaza killed another 20 people, according to Palestinian medical officials.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes.

Hours earlier, the Israeli military announced a small expansion of the humanitarian zone, where it has told Palestinians evacuating from other parts of Gaza to take refuge. Hundreds of thousands are sheltering in sprawling tent camps in and around Muwasi, a desolate area with few public services.

Israeli forces have also been besieging the northernmost part of Gaza since the beginning of October, battling Hamas fighters it says regrouped there.

With virtually no food or aid allowed in for more than a month, the siege has raised fears of famine among the tens of thousands of Palestinians believed to still be sheltering there.

The United States gave Israel a 30-day deadline — that expired this week — to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, calling on it to allow at least 350 truckloads to enter each day, among other things.

So far, Israel has fallen short. In October, 57 trucks a day entered Gaza on average, and 75 a day so far in November, according to Israel’s official figures. The United Nations puts the number lower, at 39 trucks daily since the beginning of October.

Israel has announced a flurry of measures in recent days to increase aid, including opening a new crossing into central Gaza and some small deliveries of food and water to the north. But so far the impact is unclear.

The military announced Tuesday that four soldiers were killed in Jabaliya, bringing to 24 the number of soldiers killed in the assault there since it began.

Palestinian health officials say hundreds of Palestinians have been killed, though the true numbers are unknown as rescue workers are unable to reach buildings destroyed in strikes. Israel has ordered residents in the area to evacuate. But the U.N. has estimated some 70,000 people remain.

Many Palestinians there fear Israel aims to permanently depopulate the area to more easily keep control of it. On Tuesday, witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli troops had encircled at least three schools in Beit Hanoun, forcing hundreds of displaced people sheltering inside to leave.

Drones blared announcements demanding people move south to Gaza City, said Mahmoud al-Kafarnah, speaking from one of the schools as sounds of gunfire could be heard. “The tanks are outside,” he said. “We don’t know where to go.”

Hashim Afanah, sheltering with at least 20 other people in his family home, said the forces were evicting people from houses and shelters.

The U.N.’s top humanitarian official, Joyce Msuya, told the Security Council on Tuesday that “acts reminiscent of the gravest international crimes” are being committed in Gaza. “The daily cruelty we see in Gaza seems to have no limits,” she said, pointing to recent developments in Beit Hanoun.

Israel’s campaign in Gaza has killed more than 43,000 Palestinians, according to local health authorities that do not distinguish between civilians and militants in their count but say more than half the dead are women and children. Israel says it targets Hamas militants who hide among civilians.

The war in Gaza began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted about 250 as hostages. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem, Natalie Melzer in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.

This story has been corrected to show that the span of the war is now 13 months, not 19 months, and that 75 aid trucks have entered per day in November, according to Israeli figures, not 87.

FILE - Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

FILE - Palestinians line up for food distribution in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, on Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana, File)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Journalists document as smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike on Dahiyeh, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)