Coco Gauff believes she has proven to herself that she is going in the "right direction" after winning the China Open in Beijing. (More Tennis News)
Gauff triumphed 6-1 6-3 in Sunday's final, beating Karolina Muchova in just 76 minutes to claim her second title of 2024, after winning th꧑e Auckland Open in January.
She is also now the first player to win each of her first seven WTA h🐬ard-court finals in tᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚhe Open Era.
However, after winning the Cincinnati Open and her maiden grand slam at the US Open las𝐆t year, Gauff struggled at the start of th🌞e hard court swing this time around.
After an early exit at the Paris Olympics, she only won once acr🌃oss at Toronto and Cincinnati before seeing her US Open title defence ended in the last 16 by Emma Navarro.
"Everybody can do everything in practice," Gauff told WTA Insider. "This time, whe🎀n the pressure is on the line, I was just trying to force myself to do things I was uncomfortable with.
"So yeah, I think the result is now reassurance that I am in the right d🍌irection.
"A lot of times people forge♔t that I'm still in the developmental phase of my career and nothing is going to be great.
"Most of the people doing well are 25 and older in the top 10, maybe with the exception of Iga [Swiatek]. We have a long way to 𝔉go, and I still have a lot that I need to work on, and I'm proud of myself thus far.
"I didn't have a complete game at 15, and I don't have one right now, but I've been on tour playing every week almost, trying to be better. I'm just super proud of that.🍸"
Gauff will be in action next at the Wuhan Open, ⛦making her first appearance at the tournament.
