Coco Gauff admits 'a lot of nights crying' after winning Cincinnati Open title
Coco Gauff lifted the biggest title of her career in Cincinnati.
Coco Gauff admitted that she has "spent a lot of nights crying" as she won the biggest title of her career at the Cincinnati Open. The 19-year-old needed an hour and 56 minutes to defeat Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4 and win her first WTA 1000 event. And she confessed that it had been a tough summer before she managed to turn things around.
Gauff is enjoying one of the best months of her career so far. Less than three weeks ago she lifted her maiden WTA 500 trophy, the biggest title of her career at that point. And she has already gone one better by winning a 1000-point tournament for the first time.
Since crashing out of Wimbledon in the first round, the American is an impressive 11-1 in wins and losses. And the world No 7 got candid as she explained just what it meant to be crowned the champion in Cincinnati after a disappointing start to the summer.
"This is unbelievable you know, especially after everything I went through earlier in the summer in Europe," Gauff started. "I’m just happy to be here in this moment. I’d like to thank my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I spent a lot of nights at home crying, trying to figure it out."
The teenager also admitted that she still had some work to do, adding: "And I still have a lot to figure out but I thank him for covering me." Gauff also threw her support behind Cincinnati keeping hold of the tournament after it emerged that the event could move to Charlotte by 2026, with talks that a decision could be made in the autumn.
Sharing her gratitude to the tournament organisers, Gauff continued: "Next I would like to thank first the Western & Southern, the sponsor, and Todd for putting on an incredible tournament. The improvements that the site has made for the players has been a lot since last year so I’m excited to see how this tournament continues to grow - hopefully in Cincinnati.
"At the beginning of the tournament, they asked me about the difference in cities and honestly, I always lost early so I didn’t really get to experience Cincinnati enough but I’ve been here for the full week and I can tell you the people really make it special so thank you to you guys."
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Addressing her opponent, the world No 7 said she hoped to battle Muchova again on an even bigger stage. "I’ve always been watching you and saying that she’s such an incredible player and it’s good to see you healthy on tour," she added, speaking to Muchova.
After thanking her team, Gauff also sent an emotional message to her parents who were watching from home. She concluded: "And the biggest, biggest thank you to my parents. My mum, I love you so much for being my emotional support, she’s not here.
"And my dad he’s also not here but he is the reason why I’m here today, he’s the reason why I play tennis, he’s the reason why I believe that I can do this. Thank you to my dad, I love you. I’m so happy and it’s really because of you, you’ve been giving me the scouting reports all week and I really appreciate it."