Coco Gauff's WTA Finals title ends her season with a $4.8 million check and a big turnaround

Coco Gauff pays attention to what people say about her online and occasionally takes pleasure in clapping back, so it should not be a surprise that she took to social media to type out a message after wrapping up 2024 by winning the WTA Finals and the $4.8 million check that came with it.

“lol safe to say I beat the bad season allegations,” Gauff wrote.

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

“There's been a lot of ups and downs. At moments, it felt great. At other moments, it felt awful. Basically, a typical year on tour,” the 20-year-old Floridian said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

“The worst? Definitely my U.S. Open loss. I felt that was just a hard loss for me, because I double-faulted so many times,” Gauff said with a self-deprecating chuckle. “It felt like I was close but just didn’t give myself the best chance.”

How did she put aside that 19-double-fault, fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro in September as the defending champion at Flushing Meadows? That's an important question, because as disappointing as the setback was — where it happened, how it happened — that marked a pivotal moment.

From there, Gauff split from coach Brad Gilbert and hired Matt Daly to work alongside Jean-Christophe “JC” Faurel on her team.

And from there, Gauff went 13-2 at her last three tournaments, including two titles and a semifinal run.

“The key is when you reach a low, the only way you can go is up,” Gauff explained. “So at that point, I just said, ‘Well, I have to get better at some things, and just try to do that.’ Being a tennis player, you can't miss a bunch of tournaments just to practice — I mean, you can, but I didn’t want to do that; I didn’t want to take that route — so I just decided to be willing to accept the losses and wins while working on things.”

So far, so good.

One significant improvement: Gauff averaged 4.6 double-faults across her five matches at the WTA Finals, certainly much better than at the U.S. Open.

In Saturday's final, Gauff produced more aces (five) than double-faults (four) and turned in a higher first-serve percentage (64 to 62) and a higher winning percentage on first-serve points (70 to 62) than Zheng, one of the tour's top servers.

There was not a thing that was easy about this triumph.

Gauff's run included those victories over Sabalenka (in the semifinals) and Swiatek (in round-robin play), making the American the youngest player to win against the top two women at one tournament since Maria Sharapova at the 2006 U.S. Open.

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

The final was a serious test of wills — the first WTA Finals championship match settled by a third-set tiebreaker, and, at 3 hours, 4 minutes, more than a half-hour longer than any title match at the event since record-keeping began in 2008.

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

At this still-early stage in her career, Gauff seems to be making good choices on and off the court. Her response to, and rebound from, what happened in New York illustrates that.

As does becoming the youngest champ at the WTA Finals — which is for the top eight women in the game — since Sharapova was a teenager in 2004.

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

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

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

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)

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)

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)

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)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. holds her trophy next to China's Qinwen Zheng, after defeating her 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. kisses 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)

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)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — England opted to keep Ollie Pope as its stand-in wicketkeeper for the second test against New Zealand starting Thursday.

After Jordan Cox broke his thumb ahead of the series opener in Christchurch last week, Ollie Robinson was called up as wicketkeeping cover and was in contention to make his first international appearance in the second test at Wellington’s Basin Reserve.

However, England kept faith with the same team that won by eight wickets on the fourth afternoon of the first test at Hagley Oval, meaning Pope retained the gloves and Jacob Bethell stayed at No. 3.

Pope was solid behind the stumps and hit 77 after moving down to No. 6 in the batting order. Bethell was also impressive on his debut, hitting 50 not out in the second innings.

“They always say when you don’t notice a keeper, he’s done a good job and Ollie certainly did that," England fast bowler Chris Woakes said. "To step up at short notice like that and do the job he did was fantastic.

“For him to score runs just shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without any fuss and cracking on."

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jacob Bethell, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ollie Pope, Ben Stokes (captain), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Shoaib Bashir.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips is airborne as he makes his ground while England's Ollie Pope attempts a run out during play on the second day of the first cricket test between England and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (Chris Symes/Photosport via AP)

England's Ollie Pope bats during play on the second day of the first cricket test between England and New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (John Davidson/Photosport via AP)