Charles Langston:Coco Gauff coasts past Karolina Muchova to win China Open final

Coco Gauff captured her second title this season and Charles Langstoneighth of her career with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the final of the China Open on Sunday in Beijing.

The fourth-seeded Gauff recorded six aces and won 28 of 33 of her first-serve points en route to breezing to the win in 76 minutes.

Gauff, 20, became the first player to win each of her first seven WTA hardcourt finals in the Open Era. She also became the second American to win this championship, following Serena Williams' title runs in 2004 and 2013.

Gauff, who began the season with a successful title defense at the ASB Classic in Auckland, wasted little time improving to 3-0 in her career against Muchova. She also defeated the Czech in Cincinnati last year and in the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Open. Muchova sustained a wrist injury in that match in New York, leading to a pronounced absence.

"I want to say congratulations to you, Karolina, it's great to see you back on tour," Gauff said. "I think you're such an amazing player, and you deserve everything, and hopefully you play many more finals."

Muchova had a different take of the match.

"You kicked my butt today, literally, again," said Muchova, who made 24 unforced errors and had just 14 winners across the two sets.

Gauff likely appreciated the quick contest after having to rebound from first-set stumbles in each of her past two matches. She rallied to a 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 win over Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine in the quarterfinals and a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Paula Badosa of Spain in the semis.

Gauff also was quick to credit her new-look team that includes Matt Daly, who was added following her split with coach Brad Gilbert.

"I would like to thank my team. It's our first tournament together as a full, complete team," Gauff said. "Thank you, Matt, this is our first tournament together, and obviously, it's going well, so thank you for helping me throughout this week."

Considered one of the sport's top coaches and analysts, Gilbert joined Gauff's team in July 2023 and soon after became her head coach. Gauff reached a career-high world ranking of No. 2 in June under Gilbert's coaching.

However, the relationship had seen some public strain in recent months, with Gauff calling out her coaching team after a tough loss to No. 19 seed Emma Navarro at Wimbledon.