Coco Gauff wins 2024 WTA Finals title, first U.S. champ since Serena Williams

Coco Gauff prevailed in a three-hour title match at the 2024 WTA Finals to claim her first trophy at the prestigious year-end event. On Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the 20-year-old American edged Chinese Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen in the championship round. The world No. 3 previously beat No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals and No. 2 Iga Swiatek in round-robin play this week.

With her 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) comeback victory, Gauff became the fourth American to win the WTA Finals before turning 21, joining Chris Evert (1973, 1975), Tracy Austin (1980) and Serena Williams (2001). Gauff is the youngest champion at the season finale since Maria Sharapova (17 in 2004) and the first American titlist since Williams won her fifth year-end trophy in 2014.

In the final, Gauff came back from a break down in the second set and twice recovered a break in the final frame, including stopping Zheng from serving out the match at 5-4.

"Just staying resilient, fighting for every point," Gauff said in her post-match press conference. "I know I was like a couple points away from losing, but I just tried to stay in the moment, honestly, and I'm really proud of myself."

The trophy is the third of Gauff's 2024 season (Auckland, Beijing) and the ninth of her young career. Her Riyadh run also secured her the year-end world No. 3 ranking for the second straight season; she reached a career-high of No. 2 this June.

Now a perfect 8-0 in hard-court finals at tour-level, including her title-clinching comeback against Sabalenka at the 2023 US Open, Gauff is 9-1 overall in title matches. Her reaction after match point showed just how much this one meant to her.

Her hard work was handsomely rewarded with $4.8 million in prize money, more than doubling her previous winnings from the 2024 season. The payout is the largest in WTA Tour history.

Townsend finishes doubles runner-up

The doubles championship at the 2024 WTA Finals was a rematch of this year's Wimbledon final. American Taylor Townsend and Czech Katerina Siniakova beat Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe in the London matchup but were beaten, 7-5, 6-3, on Saturday in Riyadh.

Townsend and Siniakova were a perfect 4-0 this week en route to the final, winning two match tiebreaks in round-robin play. The eighth seeds also won a second-set tiebreak against Chan Hao-Ching and Veronika Kudermetova in the semifinals.

Siniakova, the WTA's doubles year-end No. 1, won five titles with five different partners this season—including with Gauff at Rolad Garros.