Coco Gauff won the 2024 China Open in Beijing, and immediately after her win, she explained what the remainder of the season would be like for her.
In recent weeks, many tennis players voiced concerns over the length of the tennis schedule. On the WTA Tour, Iga Swiatek was one of the most prominent voices, while among the men, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev voiced their dissatisfaction.
Therefore, it’s not a surprise that often, players are asked about their schedule or tournaments they will play. This is an important question for many tennis fans who want to plan their journeys to tournaments where their favorites might play.
While it’s clear when it comes to some of the biggest tournaments in the world, such as Grand Slams and ATP and WTA 1000 events, there are also plenty of tournaments of a 500 or 250 level that the best in the world might play, and fans want to know which might be those that their favorites might play.
Especially at the end of the season, players sign up for more 250s or 500s than they would in the middle of the season, and the reason for that is simple. The eight best qualify for the WTA Finals, and the fight for the last spots is always very close.
Ahead of the China Open, Gauff was sixth in the 2024 WTA Race to Riyadh, very close to the fight for the last qualifying spot, especially since Barbora Krejcikova, who won Wimbledon this year and isn’t in the Top 8, will also qualify for the tournament due to a special rule, which means only the seven highest-ranked players in the Race will make it to the WTA Finals.
However, since Gauff won the tournament in Beijing, she basically secured her spot at the 2024 WTA Finals, running from November 2nd to 9th, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
After the tournament, she is ranked fourth in the race, only three points behind third Elena Rybakina and 1,410 points ahead of the player in the last qualifying spot, Emma Navarro.
This means that there isn’t a realistic scenario in which Gauff would lose her spot at the WTA Finals, so she was asked about her participation after her win at the China Open.
“Yeah, I guess making Finals honestly wasn’t the goal of this tournament. Honestly, I kind of told my team I wanted to play Beijing. We were planning on just coming to Wuhan. I just felt like I needed to play, have fun.”
“I enjoy Beijing. I feel like here, it just makes me more focused in other tournaments just because it is so different from where I live, where I’m from. I think it enhances my game. But yeah, I’m looking forward to playing the WTA Finals again. I think this is my third year in a row.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty proud of that. It’s hard each year to make it. Especially with the depth of the women’s game now, I think it’s even harder. I’m really honored to make it.”
Having secured enough points at the China Open, Gauff confirmed the remainder of her schedule for the 2024 season, saying that she would compete only at the Wuhan Open.
“Wuhan is my last tournament till then. Regardless of whatever happens, I’m not playing anything till Finals.”