Gauff defeats Paolini in straight sets to stay alive at WTA Finals

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Jean-Cristophe Faurel, Coco Gauff’s coach for the past six years on and off, has been impressed with her competitiveness in big moments.

“She’s amazing in the ability she has to just close everything,” he explained before the tournament. “For me, the French Open final is the best example. Like every player, she can be irritated, distracted when she plays — look at us [in the player’s box] too much. 

“She maybe she looked at us two times. She was in the zone. This makes her different from many, many players. Semifinals, final, big match … she plays her best tennis most of the time. I think she’s 11-for-14 in finals.”

One of those, of course, was Gauff’s triumph at Roland Garros, a big part of the season that delivered her to a fourth straight WTA Finals. On Tuesday, facing possible elimination, the No. 3 seed dug in again and delivered another impressive performance.

The defending champion scored a 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 8 seed Jasmine Paolini and, at the very least, will live for another day at the year-end championships. 

For while Paolini was eliminated from the Stefanie Graf Group because she lost in straight sets, Gauff (1-1) must wait for the conclusion of the later match between No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 5 Jessica Pegula to learn what scenarios will deliver her to the semifinals.

In her opening three-set loss to Pegula, Gauff’s serve (17 double faults, nine breaks) and forehand (45 unforced errors) were all over the place. Against Paolini, she was far more buttoned down.

Gauff suffered only three double faults and won 35 of her 50 service points. She was particularly sharp, winning 15 of 19 second-serve points. She has now produced 33 career Top 10 wins in her young career.

It was the second straight appearance at the WTA Finals for Paolini. Her singles record is 1-4, but she and partner Sara Errani are still alive as the top seeds in doubles  

Overall, Paolini came in with better recent results, winning three of four matches against Gauff — all earlier this year. However, Gauff prevailed in straight sets last month in the Wuhan semifinal on her way to the title.

Gauff broke in Paolini’s first service game and had run off eight consecutive points when she fell into a love-40 hole. But instead of giving in and allowing the Italian back on serve, Gauff played some patient defense and won the game’s last five points to take a 3-0 lead.

But Paolini gradually worked her way into the match. She actually had three chances to level it at 4-all, but Gauff won five straight points to take a definitive 5-3 lead.

The second set began quietly and stayed on serve until the fifth game, when Gauff scored her third break of the match. Gauff came back to do it again in the seventh 

At 21, Gauff is the youngest player in the singles field. She’ll meet World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in a final round-robin match Thursday that could determine whether she advances to the semifinals.

Gauff has won 11 of the 14 finals she’s played at the Hologic WTA Tour level, a statistic that Faurel was quick to cite as evidence of her ability in the clutch.

“Many people tell me it was a great year,” Faurel said. “But there was a lot of up and down, for sure. She has two Slams, yes, “but she wants so much more.”