Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) - The American star Coco Gauff started her participation in the WTA Finals with a hard-fought victory this Sunday by defeating her compatriot Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-7 (5/7) and 6-2 in a Group 1 match, played in Indian Wells.

First modification: 09/11/2026 - 02:37

Champion of the US Open in 2023 and Roland Garros in 2025, Gauff was down 5-1 in the second set, but saved three set points in the tenth game and chained five consecutive games to go up 6-5.

Pegula reacted strongly, saving a match point and holding serve in the twelfth game to force a tiebreaker in which she took a 5-2 lead before leveling the match.

Gauff regained control in the decisive round by taking a 3-0 lead and never gave up the initiative again. He sealed the victory after two hours and 39 minutes, when Pegula sent a backhand past the baseline.

"I had a great time," Gauff said. "I took a little break. It was my first match in like a month. Playing a tournament like this without preparation is something I've never done in my career."

"I'm very happy that I got through today's round. It was a tough match. It lasted two and a half hours and I feel like every point was... I don't know if you were holding your breath, but I was too, so I'm happy that I got through it," said Gauff, 22.

Gauff had split her ten previous matches with Pegula and was strengthened after defeating her this year in Cincinnati and Wimbledon.

Noskova in the race

In the other opening match of Group 1, the Czech Linda Noskova defeated the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk 6-2, 6-4 to begin her first participation in the WTA Finals with a victory.

Noskova, 21 years old and current Wimbledon champion, barely needed 86 minutes to beat Kostyuk and improve her personal record against the Ukrainian player to 3-1.

The four matches between the two tennis players took place this year: Noskova won the most recent in the round of 16 of the United States Open and also won the semifinals of Wimbledon.

Kostyuk had previously defeated the Czech en route to the title won this year on the clay of Madrid.

World number one and defending champion Elena Rybakina withdrew on Saturday due to a viral infection and was replaced in the draw by Kostyuk herself.

The WTA Finals were initially supposed to be held in Saudi Arabia, but were moved to Indian Wells in July due to the instability generated by the military conflict in the Middle East.

© 2026 AFP

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