Coco Gauff was positively surprised to hear about her outstanding record in finals but that also instantly woke up some painful moments because her lone defeat in a title match came at a Grand Slam tournament.
On Friday, the American tennis star staged a very impressive comeback after coming back from a set and a break down to beat Paula Badosa 4-6 6-4 6-2 and come one win away from winning the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing. When the 20-year-old meets Karolina Muchova today, she will be playing in her ninth final.
Heading into the title clash at the China Open, Gauff owns a 7-1 record in such matches. In those eight finals played between 2019 and 2024, the current world No. 6 lost only one - it happened when Iga Swiatek crushed her 6-1 6-3 in the 2022 French Open final.
"I didn't know that. I definitely know the 1 (laughter). Roland Garros, for sure," the 20-year-old replied when told by a reporter about her great record.
After realizing that it remembered the American about one very heartbreaking loss, the reporter apologized.
"It's okay. You live and you learn (smiling)," she funnily responded.
What's Gauff mindset going into the Muchova showdown?
Today, the No. 4 seed will be playing her second final of the season but also the first one in 10 months. At the start of the season, the former world No. 2 won Auckland in the first week of the year after overcoming Elina Svitolina.
Against Muchova, Gauff owns a positive 2-0 head-to-head, having beaten the Czech for her maiden WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati last summer and also beat the former world No. 8 in their 2023 US Open semifinal meeting.
While the American may have never lost to the 28-year-old, the Czech tennis star has been playing lights out in Beijing over the last seven days and she is coming off impressive back-to-back wins over Aryna Sabalenka and Zheng Qinwen.
Since Muchova and Zheng hadn't yet concluded their Beijing semifinal meeting while the 20-year-old was conducting her press conference, she was asked to break down both potential matchups.
"I think the same mindset. I mean, I'm happy to be in the final. Like I said, I wasn't expecting it. Has this week been like my best tennis? In moments, yeah. I think today I reached some levels where I was playing my best tennis. Obviously that's not the case for the whole match. That's tennis, that's life," Gauff explained.
"It would be cool. But it's so far. Everybody thinks the final, you're so close. But you're not. You're so far away. I guess it's cool. Regardless of what happens today, I'll still have a winning record in finals. Hopefully I can add one more. If not, it's okay," Gauff explained.
"The matchups? Karolina, I played her twice, both on hard court. She's a tough opponent. I think she's one of the best players on tour. She just had some unlucky breaks with injuries. But it's good to see her back healthy. That's going to be a tough matchup. She's dangerous. Yeah, I think it would be tough.
"Qinwen, the same. She's a tough competitor, tough opponent to play. I think she plays very physical tennis. Playing at home, I have experience playing at home, it brings so much more energy and adrenaline to you. I know that she's going to come out swinging. Yeah, so both will be tough matches. This is what makes tennis exciting. It makes me excited to play the best of the best."
Muchova asked how she plans to end her losing streak against Gauff
As mentioned above, the two stars played two matches on the biggest stage last year. Unfortunately for the Czech, she didn't manage to even win a set in any of those clashes as the world No. 6 handed her a 6-3 6-4 loss in Cincinnati before defeating her 6-4 7-5 at the US Open.
However, it should be noted that Muchova was at the time hampered by a wrist issue and that she didn't play for the next 10 months after their match at Flushing Meadows.
"I honestly wasn't even thinking about tomorrow's match yet (smiling). Obviously, will try to recover as best as possible tonight and tomorrow morning. Just to bring the best game. We played a year ago, so we are different players today and tomorrow. I'll just try to play my best and challenge her and hope for the best result tomorrow," the 28-year-old said when asked about facing Gauff.
If Muchova manages to beat Gauff today in Beijing, she will land her first WTA 1000 title and probably make some amends for the two heartbreaking losses she suffered last season.
