Coco Gauff claims first WTA 1000 title with Cincinnati Open final victory over Karolina Muchova

Updated 20/08/2023 at 19:55 GMT

Coco Gauff won her third hard-court competition of the season, and the first WTA 1000 title of her career, as she beat Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4 at the Cincinnati Open in Ohio on Sunday afternoon. Gauff will move up to No. 6 in the world rankings as a result of the success, and will hope to carry her good form into the upcoming US Open to be held in New York.

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Coco Gauff won her first WTA 1000 title at the Cincinnati Open when she defeated Karolina Muchova 6-3 6-4 on Sunday.

Both Gauff and her opponent were in their maiden WTA 1000 final, as they prepared for the forthcoming US Open, the last Grand Slam event of the 2023 season.

The 19-year-old American came into the match as the clear favourite, boasting a No. 7 world ranking compared to Muchova, seven years her senior and ranked 10 places lower.

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Gauff will move up to No. 6 on Monday as a result of the win.

Muchova, though, is enjoying a positive season having reached the final of the French Open, where she lost to Iga Swiatek.

Gauff, who recorded her first win over Swiatek in the semi-finals in Ohio, reached the last four of both this year’s Australian and French Opens, and while she was a losing finalist at both the Madrid Open and Italian Open, she won the Auckland Classic and Washington Open this year.

Muchova had needed three sets to defeat Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals, and appeared sluggish compared to Gauff.

The teenager broke her opponent to earn a 6-3 win in the first set, and at 5-3 up in the second, she appeared to be cruising to the win.

However, Muchova was able to provide a little resistance late on only for Gauff to close things out 6-4 in her favour to lift the trophy, her third hard-court title of the season.

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