Coco Gauff won the first Saudi Arabian edition of the WTA Finals beating Qinwen Zheng in the final.

Gauff fought back from a set and a break down to beat China’s Zheng 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 in one of the best WTA Finals in recent memory.

Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images

The American experienced an almost perfect week at the WTA Finals, securing wins over the top two players in the world, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek on her way to the final.

Gauff’s win against Swiatek, was just her second in 13 attempts, as she overcame the odds to take down the Pole in straight sets.

Her victory in Saudi Arabia was her second big title in Asia this season, as Gauff won the China Open, earlier this year, beating Karolina Muchova to take home a second career WTA 1000 trophy.

The tournament in Saudi Arabia was a first for women’s tennis, and Gauff recently gave her thoughts on how the crowd reacted to her at the event.

Coco Gauff felt like Saudi fans were ‘cheering for her’ at WTA Finals

Speaking in her post-match press conference, Gauff spoke about what the fans were like at the WTA Finals.

“I definitely felt like the Saudi people in the crowd were cheering for me,” she said.

“Obviously there was a lot of Chinese fans too, I knew there was some Americans, but I knew it wasn’t only Americans cheering for me.

“It meant a lot. I appreciate it.”

The 20-year-old went on to say that inspiring younger fans, was one of the main reasons she came to Saudi Arabia.

“That’s why I wanted to come here and like I said in the speech, there has never been a professional women’s tennis event here and just to show young girls that their dreams are possible,” said Gauff.

“I am no different than they are, we just come from different places.

“I was their age watching professional tennis events in my country, now I hope that there is some hope here that when I retire there will be a Saudi Grand Slam champion or a WTA Finals champion.

“If that happens then I did my job, and the rest of the players who played the first event here, did their job.”

Was the first Saudi Arabian WTA Finals a success?

The first Saudi Arabian WTA Finals had been criticised for a lack of attendance during the event.

It was reported that just 400 people turned up to watch Swiatek beat Barbora Krejcikova in the group phase of the tournament.

Attendances did improve throughout the week however, and the 5000 seater arena was said to be full for Gauff’s triumph over Zheng in the final.

But was Saudi Arabia’s first crack at hosting the event successful?

Well, it’s not an easy question to answer, but it couldn’t have gone too much better, as the final sold out and fans witnessed two of the biggest stars on the WTA Tour put on a classic.

The organisers of the event definitely won’t be complaining about stars from their two biggest markets, USA and China taking centre stage in Saudi Arabia.

Yes, the attendances were worrying at times, and they’ll definitely hope that the 2025 edition of the event can draw bigger crowds throughout the week.

However, players were quick to praise the organisation of the event throughout, and with record prize money on offer, stars will likely be eager to return for next season’s tournament.

The WTA Finals are set to remain in Saudi Arabia for both 2025 and 2026.