Coco Gauff claimed the WTA Finals title in Riyadh after prevailing 3-6 6-4 7-6(2) against Qinwen Zheng.
The match was a three hour classic in which Gauff dug deep against Zheng, who let some big leads slip.
In the opening set Gauff had the majority of the chances, creating a break point in the opening game before some aggressive returning saw the third seed create three break points in the fifth game.
Those break points counted for nothing though as the American lacked a clinical edge against a ruthless Zheng.
The Olympic gold medallist punished Gauff by breaking to love for a 5-3 lead before saving break point in order to close out the opening set in 57 minutes.
Zheng continued the momentum in the second set by breaking in the opening game and creating a 3-1 lead against a confused Gauff, who had no answers.
However the world number seven got more passive in the big moments which allowed Gauff to dictate the majority of the rallies and earn much more success.
A run of four games in a row saw Gauff take a 5-3 lead as she broke on two consecutive occasions.
Zheng did halt Gauff’s momentum with a break back temporarily but a third break of the set ensured that this match would be decided in a final set to the frustration of the Chinese number one.
The final set saw a rollercoaster of momentum swings as Gauff was forced to comeback from a break down twice with Zheng unable to serve out the match.
The seventh seed held her nerve before the tiebreak as she saved two match points from an aggressive Gauff as this final set would go to a tiebreak.
A dominant tiebreak from Gauff was complete as she converted her fifth match point to seal a phenomenal week in Saudi Arabia.
It means that Gauff is the youngest winner of the WTA Finals since Maria Sharapova in 2004.
After the match Gauff thanked her team after achieving a remarkable feat, “I’d to thank my team. It’s been a long season. I want to say thank you. This week has been so fun,” Gauff was quoted by The Tennis Letter as saying.
“Win or lose, I always have a good time with you guys. Thank you to my parents. My mom is here. My dad is watching at home.. my brother.. my grandparents. Thank you to the man above for allowing me to be here.”
