Washington Open: Gauff downs Sakkari for fourth title, Evans wins men's final

With a racket in her hand Coco Gauff is not typical at all as her success so far shows And after the disappointment of a firstround exit at Wimbledon last month the 19yearold from Florida appears back to her best as the start of the US Open approaches later this monthSurging at the end of each set Gauff defeated Maria Sakkari 62 63 in the Washington final for the fourth WTA Tour singles title of her career Gauff is the youngest womens champion of the hardcourt tournament in the nations capital and the first player since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009 to win four WTA tournaments as a teenagerI would say said Gauff who is ranked No 7 and was seeded No 3 Im heading in the right directionWell theres an understatementShes already near the top but there is a lot of room to get better said Gauffs new coach Pere Riba who was joined on her team by consultant Brad Gilbert in WashingtonIm happy of course that she won the tournament Im more happy about the way she did it Her energy and attitude are more important for the long termWhat a week it was thoughAlso Read To play or not to play that is the questionGauff the runnerup at the 2022 French Open didnt drop at set and ceded just 19 total games across four matchesAt night Dan Evans became at age 33 the oldest mens champion in Washington since Jimmy Connors was 35 in 1988 by beating Tallon Griekspoor 75 63 in a final delayed by more than two hours in the second set because of a thunderstormIt was the second ATP Tour title for Evans who was just 818 in 2023 before the DC Open and now will rise from No 30 to a careerhigh No 21 in the rankings MondayI had to keep telling myself it was matchbymatch and not so long ago I wasnt playing great he saidIt was a good effort mentally to just stay in the present and keep fighting for each point And I did a great job of that this weekThis was the first year the tournament was a combined ATPWTA 500 event Despite equal billing the prize money wasnt the same iquest and wont be until 2027 Gauff earned USD 120150 Evans received USD 353445In addition to the No 9ranked Sakkari Gauff eliminated defending champion Liudmila Samsonova and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda BencicThe caliber of players I have beat this week was probably the strongest out of all of the tournaments Ive played said Gauff who hit seven aces Sunday while improving to 41 in singles finalsThis was her second title of 2023 alongside one in Auckland New Zealand in JanuaryOne big key this time was an improved forehand long considered a weak point Pere focused on altering her footwork so she would be in a better position to strike that shot and use it to attackWe all know that her forehand was always her weaker shot I feel like now shes improving that Shes making more balls Shes working on that said Sakkari a 28yearold from Greece who reached two Grand Slam semifinals in 2021Mentally she looks a lot more mature She knows what shes doing on the courtSakkari who beat topseeded Jessica Pegula on Saturday fell to 17 in finalsIm not going to lie Sakkari said wiping away tearsIts pretty disappointingSakkari broke to open the second set when Gauff dumped a drop shot into the net Gauff put her hands on her head walked to the sideline and hit her equipment bag with her racket Soon it was 20But Sakkari doublefaulted to get broken to 3all and her groundstroke errors kept coming too often followed by a glance at her coach Tom HillGauff noticed She figured it was because she kept Sakkari from preying on her forehandConsistently this week I have beaten that scouting report and I think thats why the players tend to get a little more frustrated Gauff saidAlmost all week every player that I played has been looking at their box because I truly think that the plan that they had I was able to kind of combat Today she clearly had a plan and I kind of just made that plan fizzle out a little bitWith agency inputs