Cincinnati: No.7 Coco Gauff defeated No.17 Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the Western & Southern Open to win her second hard-court title of the summer and third of the season.
Having won Auckland in January and Washington DC two weeks ago, Gauff, 19, is now the first teenager to win three titles in a season since Bianca Andreescu in 2019.
She is the first teenager to win five career titles since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
Gauff is the fourth American champion in Cincinnati, joining Lindsay Davenport, Serena Williams, and Madison Keys.
She will rise one spot in the WTA rankings to No.6 on Monday.
Muchova came into her first WTA 1000 final, having spent over 10 hours on the court, with all her completed matches going a full three sets during the week.
After a two-and-a-half-hour effort to upset No.2 Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals on Saturday, the 26-year-old struggled to match Gauff’s energy.
Still, Muchova’s full fighting qualities were displayed down the stretch.
After Gauff earned a double-break advantage to serve out the win at 5-2, Muchova gamely saved three match points to break and close the gap.
She then held serve from a 0-30 deficit to force Gauff to close the match.
This time the American did not falter. Gauff held at love to seal her dominant week after 1 hour and 56 minutes.
Despite the loss, Muchova will make her Top 10 debut on Monday.