Coco Gauff Wins Wuhan Open Title With Smart Strategy Against Jessica Pegula

Coco Gauff defeated Jessica Pegula in straight sets to win the Wuhan Open title.

Coco Gauff defeated Jessica Pegula to win the Wuhan Open. | IMAGO / VCG

Brad Gilbert has not been Coco Gauff's coach for more than a year. Still, the American star embraced his patented "winning ugly" strategy in a masterful win over Jessica Pegula in the Wuhan Open final.

While it was a straight-sets win, the match was anything but precise. Gauff blunted a surging Pegula in a hard-fought match: 6-4, 7-5.

Once again, Gauff struggled with her serve. She tallied four aces and eight double faults, scoring points on 63% and 64% of her first and second serves. Gauff broke Pegula in 6/8 opportunities.

First set @CocoGauff 💪

The No. 3 seed takes the opener 6-4 against Pegula.#WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/qPZRGTHVkd

— wta (@WTA) October 12, 2025

Meanwhile, Pegula hit zero aces and two double faults. Even worse, she scored points on just 65% and 34% of her first and second serves. Pegula broke Gauff in 4/9 tries. The 31-year-old has a 5/3 lead in the second set before letting it slip away with four straight games lost.

Gauff overcame her serve issues by using her speed and athleticism to zip around the court. The 21-year-old broke up Pegula's rhythm with her ability to accelerate and decelerate the pace of the match. Couple that with cooler weather conditions, and Pegula was visibly frustrated during crunch time of the second set.

Pegula showed love to Gauff after the loss, "It's an honor to play you, as a friend and fellow American in the final, it's our first final, so that was a lot of fun being able to play."

COCO WINS IN WUHAN! 🤩@CocoGauff beats Pegula 6-4, 7-5 to win the title 🏆#WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/TkLv8p9ru4

— wta (@WTA) October 12, 2025

Pegula also credited her trainer, John Opfer, for helping her get through so many matches in the China Open and Wuhan Open. "I don't think I've played this much hours on the court in such a short amount of time and actually felt good."

Gauff showered praise upon Pegula and the Chinese fans before revealing an interesting detail about her new coach's original game plan.

First set @CocoGauff 💪

The No. 3 seed takes the opener 6-4 against Pegula.#WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/qPZRGTHVkd

— wta (@WTA) October 12, 2025

"I'm going to call JC [Jean-Christophe Faurel, my coach] out. He originally didn't want me to come because I had a tough US Open, but I had to prove him wrong. I'm a very stubborn person, so maybe he said that on purpose for me to have a good result here."

Gauff improves to 47-14, picking up her second title of the season. The World No. 3 is once again rounding into shape as she nears the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Pegula falls to 50-19 on the season, but the World No. 6 continues to have an incredibly consistent campaign.

Your winner in Wuhan 🤩🏆@CocoGauff | #WuhanOpen pic.twitter.com/TJH5DzAaxb

— wta (@WTA) October 12, 2025

The Asian Swing of the WTA schedule continues as players look to either the Japan Open or the Pan Pacific Open. Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.