Coco Gauff, 20, 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. Her reward: $4.8 million, the biggest in WTA history.
Gauff, 20, became the youngest player since Maria Sharapova in 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.
“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.”
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,” she said.
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