Gauff beats Kostyuk at WTA Finals, awaits Pegula result
Coco Gauff won 6-4, 7-5 to stay in contention at the season-ending WTA Finals in Indian Wells.
Coco Gauff defeated Marta Kostyuk to finish 2-1 in round-robin play. She advances if Linda Noskova beats Jessica Pegula in the second match.
Key takeaways
- Gauff beat Kostyuk 6-4, 7-5 at the WTA Finals
- Gauff won the last six games to finish 2-1 in round-robin play
- Gauff advances if Noskova beats Pegula in Thursday's second match
- Noskova has already booked a semifinal place from Group 1
Coco Gauff beat Marta Kostyuk 6-4, 7-5 on Thursday to stay in contention at the FAGE WTA Finals, winning the last six games to finish 2-1 in round-robin play at Indian Wells. Gauff knew coming into Thursday that even a win might not be enough to keep her in the season-ending championship, so she needed to give herself a reason to watch the second match.
Match details
After taking the opening set, Gauff fell behind 3-0 in the second and took a medical timeout. She was later seen working with a trainer on her lower back, which she said felt tight and bothered her most on serve.
Kostyuk stretched her lead to 5-1, and when Gauff served to stay in the set, she opened the game with one of her nine double faults. Gauff held anyway, and once she started going after Kostyuk’s forehand, the set turned quickly.
She broke for 5-3, then won eight straight points to get back to 5-5. By then, it was Kostyuk who had to serve to stay in the set. Gauff held for 6-5 and broke once more to close out the match.
Quote
“I don’t even know how I came back from 5-1,” Gauff said with a laugh in the Tennis Channel booth afterward. “Not going to lie, my head was already in the third set. Just glad I could close it out.”
What happens next
The 2024 champion advances if Linda Noskova beats Jessica Pegula in Thursday’s second match. If Pegula wins, she goes through regardless of Gauff’s result because a three-way tie at 2-1 is decided on the percentage of sets won and Gauff cannot reach that figure. A Kostyuk win also sends Pegula into the semifinals before she has played. Four matches into the group, Noskova leads Group 1.
Group One results
Noskova opened Sunday with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Kostyuk and followed it on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-3 dismissal of Gauff, becoming the first player in the field to book a semifinal place. Gauff’s only win came in the opener against Pegula, a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-2 marathon that lasted 2 hours and 39 minutes. Pegula answered on Tuesday by beating Kostyuk 6-2, 7-5.
Background
Gauff, the 2023 US Open and 2025 French Open champion, has won twelve career singles titles, including two majors and the 2024 WTA Finals. She arrived in the desert ranked No. 4 with 5,763 points, just three points clear of Pegula.
Gauff and Pegula have split 10 career meetings, with Gauff winning the Cincinnati final and a Wimbledon quarter-final this year.
This year's WTA Finals were scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia but in July were moved to Indian Wells after US military strikes on Iran in February and the subsequent war in the region.
Reigning world number one Elena Rybakina withdrew due to a viral illness, with Kostyuk replacing her.
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