This is the last match of the 2024 WTA Tour season (not counting the upcoming Billie Jean King Cup Finals). Main favorites Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek have been eliminated, both pretty much at the hands of Coco Gauff. Standing against the American will be the WTA Finals debutant Qinwen Zheng. Can the Chinese become the first player from her country to win the year-end championships? Who do you think will claim the title?
WTA Finals Final Prediction
Coco Gauff vs Qinwen Zheng
Head-to-head: Gauff 1-0
Coco Gauff defeated Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka at this event, making sure that neither of the best two players of the season will remain in the running for this title. The American had a bit of a patchy campaign overall, but is finishing the year extremely strong. Ever since the Asian Swing began, she’s 12-2 with her baseline game looking much more spicy under the guidance of her new coach, Matt Daly. One of her only losses in this timeframe came to Sabalenka from 6-1 4-2 up in Wuhan and she was able to avenge it on Friday.
After the US Open, Qinwen Zheng wasn’t even guaranteed to get to the WTA Finals despite making the Australian Open final and winning the Gold Medal at the Paris Olympics. The Chinese needed a strong Asian Swing to ensure her qualification and she did just that, gaining a lot of momentum right towards the end of the season. She’s taken advantage of that in this event as well. While she did start from a relatively straightforward loss to Aryna Sabalenka, she’s been spotless from there and has been posting some of the best wins of her career thus far.
Gauff and Zheng met in Rome earlier this year with the American prevailing 7-6 6-1. They both feel very strong on clay courts as they need plenty of time on their forehand wings, but they haven’t had issues adapting to the indoor conditions in Riyadh this week either. It’s a similar serving style as well with the velocity of their first deliveries counteracting double faults and ball toss issues. Gauff’s game is a little easier to execute and it’s Zheng who will need to keep the pressure high. Small nod goes to the American, who’s been excellent at being offensive when she can off the ground this week.
Prediction: Gauff in 3
Main Photo Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
