This Week in Tennis: Gauff Wins in Wuhan

Welcome to This Week in Tennis, where we catch up on all the latest and biggest stories from the ATP and WTA Tours.

Gauff Tops Former Doubles Partner Pegula to Win in Wuhan

Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula met in the final at the Wuhan Open on Sunday, with Gauff defeating her fellow American 6-4, 7-5 to claim the 1000-level title.

It’s the first time the former doubles partners, who won the Miami Open women’s doubles title in 2023, had met in a WTA final.

Gauff was dominant on her way to the title as she did not drop a set throughout the tournament, becoming the first player to achieve the feat since the tournament opened in 2014.

It’s the second title of the season for Gauff, following her win at Roland-Garros this spring. The 21-year-old now has 11 WTA titles in her career, including a pair of Grand Slam victories and three WTA 1000s.

Gauff remains third in the WTA rankings, trailing Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

Vacherot Wins First ATP Title

Valentin Vacherot capped his Cinderella run at the Shanghai Masters with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over his cousin and college teammate, Arthur Rinderknech, to win the first ATP title of his career.

Vacherot entered the tournament at No. 204 and had just one tour-level victory in his career, but upset Alexander Bublik, Holger Rune, and Novak Djokovic en route to becoming the lowest-ranked winner of a Masters 1000 event in history.

The 26-year-old is also just the third qualifier to win a Masters title, joining Roberto Carretero (Hamburg 1996) and Albert Portas (Hamburg 2001).

“It is unreal what just happened. I am not even dreaming, it is just crazy,” Vacherot said. “I am just so happy with my performances the past two weeks. There has to be one loser but I think there is two winners today, one family that won. And I think for the sport of tennis, the story is unreal."

Both men were playing in the first 1000-level final of their respective careers.

With the victory, Vacherot jumps 164 spots to No. 40, breaking into the Top 50 for the first time in his career. Rinderknech also jumped 26 spots to a new career-best rank of No. 28.