It was the shakeup that Coco Gauff wanted.
After a first-round loss at Wimbledon — the place the place she burst like a supernova onto the tennis scene as a 15-year-old in 2019 — the seventh-ranked participant on this planet was distraught.
She took a month to assemble herself and reshuffle some issues, including coach Pere Riba and legendary tennis thoughts Brad Gilbert to her nook earlier than selecting up her racket once more in Washington final week.
The strikes paid off with the largest win of her profession.
The 19-year-old American beat Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-2, 6-3 to win the D.C. Open Sunday, the fourth championship of her profession and first WTA 500-level title.
Gauff beat three completely different top-20 opponents — No. 15 Belinda Bencic, defending champion and No. 18 Liudmila Samsonova and No. 9 Sakkari — on the trail to turning into the youngest winner in event historical past and including to her 2019 D.C. doubles title.
The win is simply Gauff’s second in opposition to the Greek in six tries. Sakkari was enjoying in her first last of 2023 after seven semifinal appearances this yr.
On the warmest day of the event, the matchup of top-ranked ladies delivered, with a show of two gamers about as evenly matched as one can witness. The two stored balls contained in the baselines, with any misses primarily large or into the web.
The fourth-seeded Sakkari, who was so dominant on serve in her semifinal win over top-seed Jessica Pegula on Saturday, was neutralized by Gauff’s return recreation. Sakkari received solely 10 of her 26 factors on serve within the first set (38.5%) and was damaged thrice, together with on a double fault in her first service recreation. Though damaged as soon as, Gauff hit 5 aces within the set to Sakkari’s one, and received 76.9% of her first serve factors.
In the primary recreation of the second set, Sakkari was in a position to initially stem the tide. At break level, she took Gauff’s serve early, ultimately forcing Gauff to attempt a drop shot with not sufficient juice. It caught the web, giving Sakkari the primary break.
The two would proceed to feverishly alternate breaks: Gauff got here again to stage the set at 2-all, Sakkari would then win a protracted rally to go up 3-2, earlier than giving the benefit proper again on a double fault within the subsequent recreation.
Back on serve at 3-4, Sakkari received the primary level, then double-faulted twice, her fourth and fifth of the day. It was an unlucky microcosm of her day — after profitable 64.6% of her service factors in opposition to Pegula, Gauff minimize that quantity almost in half, 39.6%.
With the gang behind her all through, Gauff took her third break of Sakkari within the set and sixth of the match earlier than serving out for her second title of the yr.
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