Key events
And, sorry to be slow on these, hello Andrew Benton in Hong Kong.
”I imagine Zheng has the weight of a nation on her shoulders, if they’re still awake. I agree with Becky Taylor – TMS could become Tennis Match Special for some of the top games, aside from Wimbledon.” You heard it here first.
The commentators are blown away by Gauff’s athleticism and ability to just stay in the rallies. Those endless service games of Zheng’s, as Gauff sprinted for every point, must have gnawed away at her inner confidence.
So a root beer for Chris Lawrence from San Francisco who was “looking for some good news coming out of the US this week.”
Confetti falls on the finallists like cherry blossom on an extremely windy day, they get bouquets too and pose for yet more photos.
Gauff: “Firstly I want to congratulate Qinwen on a sensational season and your team too who are very nice and its been a great competition. I want to thank the Saudi federation for putting on a great tournament, its my first time in Saudi Arabia, I’ve had more fun than I imagined and thanks for coming to watch a women’s tennis competition. I want to thank everyone who put this together and my team, its been a long season but I want to say thank you, its been so much fun, and my family, and the man above for allowing me to be here.” Extremely eloquent 20 year old!
Zheng:“I wasnt to say thanks for everyone for coming tonight, thanks to the Saudi federation for a great tournament and all the staff who are working here, and thanks to my team who try to keep me healthy. Lastly I want to say congratulations to the Champion, I think you have a great future.”
The Billie-Jean King trophy sits looking beautiful while we get introduced to the dignitaries, the WTA president, the Saudi women’s tennis president, the deputy minister (?) of sport, and the tournament director (all women). The umpire gets her prize, and Zheng Qinwen is presented with her runner’s-up shield.
Tim Henman: “When you think about what Gauff has achieved in such a short space of time and how much she can improve on – it is incredible to think how she is going to get better”. And the cameras swing around to Zheng who is sitting silently alone while the music blares and everyone prepares for the ceremony.
What a game, what a comeback! Gauff embraces her mum and her team, that Champonship winning shot on the run resonant of her never-day-die attitude.
Gauff wins the WTA Finals Final 6-3, 6-6, 7-6 (7-2)!
Third set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) Gauff Despite Zheng taking the momentum into the tiebreak, a nerveless Gauff powers 6-0 up. Zheng serves big to haul a point onto the board, a second as Gauff hits long, but she can’t drag them all back and Gauff is soon on her back rolling about in delight! She shakes hands with Zheng – then bounces for joy. The first American champion since Serena Williams ten years ago and the youngest in twenty years.
Third set Tie-break
Third set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6, 6-6 Gauff (*denotes next server) A tie-break is needed to sort this fabulous match out.
Third set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-6, 6-6. Gauff (*denotes next server) An error-strewn first few points, and Zheng’s forehand slides into the net to give Gauff two break, set and Championship points. A killer forehand pulls back one, a sprinting forehand another, a bold one another. Gauff flies wild and we go into the tiebreak!
Third set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-6, 5-6. Gauff (*denotes next server) Zheng slots a volley away at the net to take the game to 30-30, and somehow gets a racket on a forehand which Gauff sends wide for break point. Gauff pulls back – these two are absolutely showing anyone who doubted women’s sport what supreme athletes they are. Zheng hits long to give Gauff the advantage, and again – and Gauff noses in front. How the worm turns – Zheng now to serve to stay in the match.
Third set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6, 5-5. Gauff* (*denotes next server) A coursing cross court forehand from Zheng wins the first point but Gauff comes back to win a scintillating rally. Zheng wobbles, to go 30-15 down, draws level with a peachy forehand, then loses the battle of the ground strokes to enable Gauff to break back for the second time in the set.
An email! Hello Becky Taylor.
“Thanks for the live blog. It’s a shame the finals are even in Saudi Arabia but it sounds like it’s a good match.
“I do wish, with all this wealth fund money sloshing around that someone would ask the tournament to organise proper radio coverage.”
Totally agree!
Third set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-6, 5-4. Gauff (*denotes next server) Zheng’s backhand advances, pounces. But Gauff isn’t dead yet, a killer serve evens things at 30-30, then a lucky net cord falls in her favour. Wins the game when Zheng hits wide. Now Zheng gets the chance to serve for the Championship.
Third set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6, 5-3 Gauff * (*denotes next server) Ooof, Gauff is furious with herself for fluffing a back hand at 15-15. A perfectly timed 12th ace of the tournament from Zheng, who has suddenly found back her mojo, takes her to 40-15, and then Gauff splats a forehand long to have to serve to stay in the match.
Third set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-6, 4-3 Gauff (*denotes next server) A mighty cross court forehand, then a winning backhand, Zheng is suddenly fired up. She has three break points and grabs the first with both hands – closing out the game to 15.
Third set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6, 3-3 Gauff* (*denotes next server) Zheng clinging onto her service games, unable to shut them down as Gauff has been. But a whippy forehand into the corner takes her to 30-0. Gauff pulls back to 30-30, but this time Zheng holds on.
Third set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-6, 2-3 Gauff (*denotes next server) What a hold to love. Wow! Gauff takes the lead in the second set.
Third set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6, 2-2 Gauff *(*denotes next server) An 187kph ace from Zheng takes the game to 40-15, Gauff draws back to 30-40 as has become the norm, and then to deuce. A wild forehand from Zheng hands Gauff advantage, and a sprint to the net on the right and a dive to the net on the left in an astonishing few seconds wins her the game.
Third set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-6, 2-1 Gauff (*denotes next server) Some fabulous placement by Gauff takes her to 30-30, but she and Zheng take it in turns to go long. Zheng pulls back to deuce when she pounces on a Gauff drop shot. And wins advantage when Gauff fires one into the net. A well-timed ace pulls back to deuce. Exhausting, absorbing tennis. One, two deuces, until Gauff pulls out a on point serve to close down the game.
Third set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6, 2-0 Gauff* (*denotes next server) The winter sun has long slipped away in Manchester, but it is bright under the lights at Riyadh. Zheng a bit wild with a couple of her shots, and then Gauff flies into a return which lands long. From 30-30, Gauff ges a break point when Zheng goes long. But then it is Gauff’s turn as she hits long in a high-wire rally, the clock ticks over to 2 hours, and Zheng holds onto her serve.
Third set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 Gauff (*denotes next server) So we roll into a final set. Zheng wins the first point as Gauff hangs one wide – and it flies away to love forty with a pin-point forehand from Zheng. She has three break points, and loses all of them. But takes the game anyway as Gauff double faults.
Gauff wins the second set 6-4
Second set: Zheng 6-3, 4-6 Gauff *(*denotes next server) Gauff slides and slips trying to return the first point. But Zheng slides behind the baseline on the second point. The two youngest players in the WTA finals producing scandalously good tennis here. A brilliant one-legged recovery shot from Gauff gets her back into the point – which she wins to sit on two set points. Zheng sends a backhand into the net and Gauff levels the match!
Second set: Zheng* 6-3, 4-5 Gauff (*denotes next server) Gauff’s response to going 0-15 down is an ace. A couple of mistakes by Zheng and Gauff has two set points. Zheng pulls one of them back with a steaming cross court backhand, the second with a forehand down the line to take the game to deuce. Powered by determination, she then breaks back.
Second set: Zheng 6-3, 3-5 Gauff* (*denotes next server) A Zheng drop shot “not a safe choice here at altitude” hits the net and bounces safely – she apologises. Then she throws in an ace, A rollicking rally follows – they’re both so outrageously fit. A Zheng backhand flies wide and Gauff has another break point. When Zheng hits long, that’s four games in a row for Gauff – who now serves for the set to level the match.
Second set: Zheng* 6-3, 3-4 Gauff (*denotes next server) Gauff’s nine points in a row ends when she hits out. But she powers on – an ace gives her game point and she moves ahead for the first time in the match. Three games in a row for Gauff and momentum changed!
Second set: Zheng 6-3, 3-3 Gauff* (*denotes next server) Says Tim Henman on Gauff “She’s just got to maintain the belief that she will have opportunities, this is going to be a mental battle as much as a physical one, to maintain belief that she will get her opportunity.” A drop shot followed by a backhand pass puts her 15-0 up on the Gauff serve. A perfect return to 30-0, a backhand volley at the net to 40-0 and suddenly she’s broken back!
Second set: Zheng* 6-3, 3-2 Gauff (*denotes next server) In the swish of a curtain, and to the delight of the crowd, Gauff takes the game to love.
Second set: Zheng 6-3, 3-1 Gauff* (*denotes next server) A fizzing backhand from Gauff off the Zheng second serve kisses the line. A double fault from Zheng – she has lost at least two points in every service game so far – but she pounces to win the game.
Second set: Zheng* 6-3, 2-1 Gauff (*denotes next server) Late November 5th fireworks are going off somewhere outside my window, while Gauff is suddenly playing like a slightly wayward Catherine wheel – shots flying about. But a ferocious cross court back hand pulls her to 40-30 and an ace wins the game.
Second set: Zheng 6-3, 2-0 Gauff* (*denotes next server) Pad, pad, pad, bounces Zheng with her ball as she prepares to serve, pad, pad, pad. Gauff’s body language slumps but she pulls back to 30-40, and then Zheng wins with an ace – her first of the match.
Second set: Zheng* 6-3, 1-0 Gauff (*denotes next server) Just the £2.5 million for winning this game, remember. The players pause between sets, Gauff opens a box and picks out something that looks like a handful of nuts. She immediately goes 15-0 down on her serve, but pulls back when Zheng feathers into the net and is so furious she wangs her foot with her racket. But she pounces on a pie from Gauff, and from deuce, powers on, winning a break point – and breaking immediately in the second set.
Zheng wins the first set 6-3!
First set: Zheng 6-3 Gauff* (*denotes next server) Gauff examines her racket, but is quickly 30-0 down on the Zheng serve. Zheng is not happy as she returns one into the net, muttering as she goes to wipe her face and racket on a towel. She hits long and is suddenly 40-30 down. But Gauff’s backhand goes out, and Zhang has suddenly whipped away the set.
First set: Zheng* 5-3 Gauff (*denotes next server) New balls – and a wild shot from Gauff gives Zheng the first point . The pattern continues and Gauff goes 0-40 down, eventually losing the game with a double fault. From no-where, she’s suddenly in trouble in the first set.
First set: Zheng 4-3 Gauff* (*denotes next server) Seventeen unforced errors at the start of this game for Zheng – which is ten more than Gauff. Indeed, Zheng’s average service games is lasting 6 mins 25 seconds, compared to 4 mins for Gauff. The lavender court continues to get a battering – and from 30-all, then deuce, Zheng takes the game.
First set: Zheng* 3-3 Gauff (*denotes next server) We pause while the umpire ticks someone off for moving in the crowd. Apparently there have been 21,000 people in over the course of the tournament – a capacity (4,000) crowd today and yesterday so probably half full the rest of the time, guesses Jonathan Overend. A steaming backhand from Zheng passes a diving Gauff to take the game to 30-all, which seems to galvanise Zheng. She wins a first break point against the Gauff serve – but then hands Gauff the advantage with a steaming but over-hit cross court forehand. Gauff fluffs one close to the net but goes on to close the game. This is magical tennis.
First set: Zheng 3-2 Gauff* (*denotes next server) A humdinger of a game bursting with huge shots and ferocious rallies. An inside out backhand wins Zheng the first point in her serve. Gauff is very quick, spanning the length of the base line like a woman in seven league boots. A inch-perfect forehand from Gauff, then Zheng hits long to give Gauff two break points. Zheng saves the game with a perfectly balanced cross court winner then a backhand down the line. Zheng saves a third break point, and Gauff is disgusted with herself after a limp forehand to give Zheng the advantage. But a cross-court forehand brings her back to deuce. Eventually though, Zheng wins out. They take a sit down.
First set: Zheng 2*-2 Gauff (*denotes next server) Gauff is wearing a deeper purple, almost a royal purple, dress, and a matching headband. A double fault is followed up by two outrageous first serves. Zheng pulls back to deuce but brilliant defence from Gauff in a squeaky shoed rally gives her the advantage, and she soon pockets the game
First set: Zheng 2-1 Gauff *(*denotes next server) Zheng hits a backhand into the net to make it 15-all, and Gauff battles back in a succession of power-hitting rallies, though ultimately nothing bears fruit. Pere Riba, Zheng’s coach, sits watching with folded arms.
First set: Zheng* 1-1 Gauff (*denotes next server) Wham-bam – Gauff wins the game in about 60 seconds with a steaming hold.
First set
First set: Zheng 1-0 Gauff * (*denotes next server) Here we go – Zheng, in purple pleated gym skirt and vest top to serve. The umpires quietens the crowd down. Gauff can’t do anything with first two serves, but pulls back when Zheng hits long in two rallies – and again to bring things to deuce after a 17-hit rally. Gauff gets a precious break point, but Zheng saves the set with a drilled forehand and then a monster serve.
Gauff is the youngest WTA Finals finalist since Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Qinwen wins the toss and elects to serve. A huge crowd fill the arena and watches them warmup.
Who is going to win? The TV experts are split 1-1.
Out come the players!
First Zheng Qinwen, then Coco Gauff, both hand in hand with a mascot. Gauff wearing headphones, Qinwen not. Both are in purple – unless that’s the lights
Lots of chat about Gauff’s forehand. She changed her team, splitting with Brad Gilbert after the US Open, and joining forces with Matt Daly. Since then, she’s been storming up the rankings – and the forehand has been one of the main talking points.
“I don’t want to give too much of what’s going on, but there are changes happening,” Gauff said. “I’ve been playing with them since Beijing.”
Lots of flashing purple lights and heady drums in Riyadh, but Tim Henman is still in a smart jacket so no need to panic. I imagine the players will be out soon.
This was Tumaini Carayol’s take on the finals mid-week.
Preamble
Good afternoon! Welcome to the WTA final from Riyadh – a battle of the bright young things, between the USA’s Coco Gauff (20), who is finishing the season with a bang, and the charismatic Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen (22) – whose record since an early defeat at Wimbledon has been astonishing, winning 31 of 36 matches, and picking up two titles plus that Paris triumph. She is playing in her first WTA final, the second Chinese player after Li Na.
The WTA finals are the biggest tournament outside the slams, with mega bucks -12 million dollars – available courtesy of the Saudis and their attempts to buy up tennis alongside much of the rest of sport. This is the first time a women’s tournament has been held in the Kingdom and it has gone ahead despite disquiet – with promises from both the WTA and Saudi Arabia that it will be a force for good. At the moment, the players are going along with it and happy with how things have gone – but Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova have called “a step backwards” for the game.
Play starts at 4pm approx GMT.
