Coco Gauff books WTA Finals spot with comeback win in Beijing

Coco Gauff walked onto the China Open stage Tuesday with more than a quarterfinal berth on the line. A win would keep her Beijing title defense alive and, more importantly, help her book her ticket to the season-ending WTA Finals for the fourth straight year.

For two and a half hours, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic did her best to ruin Gauff’s party. But in the end, the American once again proved that she loves to thrive in chaos as she clawed her way back for a gritty 4-6, 7-6, 6-2 triumph.

The win marked her fourth in six career meetings with Bencic, with three of them coming this year alone.

“It was a tough match,” Gauff said afterward. “I had chances in the first set to close it out, but overall, I’m happy with how I fought. She was being really aggressive, but I tried my best. … I’m happy to be back in Riyadh and I’m glad I was able to [qualify] here.”

At first, it looked like Gauff might have an easy afternoon. The 21-year-old raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set riding the highs of her booming serves. But Bencic had other plans as the Swiss stormed back with five straight games to steal the opening set. She also broke early in the second to peg Gauff back.

That’s where the match shifted. Gauff, who had squandered seven break-point chances, finally converted at 4-4 to level the set. In the ensuring tiebreak, she came from a mini-break down to edge Bencic and force a decider. Once there, the two-time Grand Slam champion left little-to-no doubt of a loss.

She raced to two quick breaks of a serve that helped her get her 12th win in 14th three-setters this season and gave everyone a quick reminder that her resilience is her greatest weapon.

The win also underscored just how much Beijing has become a second home for Gauff. Since 2023, she has collected 16 wins in China — second only to Zheng Qinwen’s 17.

Gauff is now the youngest player in the tournament’s history to notch nine straight singles wins and reach three quarterfinals. She has tallied 13 wins from 14 matches played at the event since its inception.

Next up for the American is Germany’s Eva Lys. A win would send Gauff into her third straight semifinal in Beijing and her third WTA 1000 semifinal in 2025.