Coco Gauff wins China Open final in straight sets, Sinner and Alcaraz advance in Shanghai

Coco Gauff becomes youngest China Open champion in 14 years, improving her record to 8-1 in tour finals.

Coco Gauff won her second title this season with a lopsided 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open on Sunday.

Aged 20, the sixth-ranked U.S. player became the youngest China Open champion in 14 years. She is also the second American champion in Beijing, following Serena Williams’ title runs in 2004 and 2013.

“Honestly, it means a lot when I saw that the last American woman to win this was Serena Williams,” Gauff said. "Anytime my name is mentioned in whatever sentence hers is, it’s a huge honor.”

It was Gauff's eighth career title. She improved her record in tour finals to 8-1 and has now a 7-0 record in hard-court finals, a feat never achieved before in the Open Era.

“That’s pretty cool,” Gauff said. “I hope somebody else breaks it. I think records are meant to be broken, honestly."

Gauff, who defended her Auckland title earlier this season, wasted no time and took the opening set in just 31 minutes. She dropped just five points on her first serve, hit 24 winners and broke Muchova five times.

Gauff's win in Beijing improved her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals featuring the eight top players for the third consecutive year. With her title, she will overtake Jessica Pegula to take the No. 5 spot ahead of the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season, the Wuhan Open starting Monday.