Coco Gauff won the Riyadh Open in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 9, and she did it the hard way, becoming the youngest player to beat the current number one and number two players in the world in a Women’s Tennis Association finals since Kim Clijsters in 2002.
According to CNN, Gauff defeated Chinese player Zheng Qinwen in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 to win the tournament.
Gauff, 20, became the youngest player since Maria Sharapova who won it the year Gauff was born, 2004, to win the tournament reserved for the world’s best players.
Earlier in the tournament, Gauff dispatched Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Świątek, the world’s number one and number two players, respectively, en route to claiming the championship and the tournament’s $4.8 million prize, the richest in the sport’s history.
Gauff appreciated the history in her match-up with the 22-year-old Zheng, remarking after the match’s conclusion, “I asked (about the record) as soon as I got the match,” Gauff said. “I asked: ‘Was this the youngest? It has to be some kind of record.’ I asked the Sky team, what was the answer. They didn’t have it, but that’s good to know.”
Gauff concluded, “It was 2004. The year I was born was the last time, so in my lifetime, basically, I’ve never seen it. That’s pretty cool. It just shows age is a number both ways, old and young.”
Despite the historical moment and the financial windfall for Gauff, the WTA has, however, faced criticism for assisting Saudi Arabia in its quest to launder its international reputation through lavish sporting events.
According to The Athletic, the WTA’s event, the first event to be held in Saudi Arabia, is out of step in a country that has a documented history of restricting the freedom of women.
Gauff was the only player to voice her reservations about hosting the tournament in Saudi Arabia, telling the media that she was trusting what people who lived in the kingdom were telling her.
“If I felt uncomfortable or felt like nothing’s happening, then maybe I probably wouldn’t come back. I don’t live here, so I can only trust what people are telling me that live here,” Gauff said.
According to Gauff, she was informed that the country would engage in a number of social good programs like coaching clinics for local girls, but there are some players who declined to go on record, who believe these initiatives are not enough to improve the position of the sport in Saudi Arabia.
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