Is China Open champion Coco Gauff the mentally toughest player on the WTA Tour?

Coco Gauff won her first title in nine months at the China Open, winning the most important parts of the matchup against Karolina Muchova to triumph 6-1, 6-3 in the final. It was arguably Gauff's best performance of 2024. Aside from a blip at the start of the second set, she was close to flawless.

The American's superb display in the final makes it easy to forget how hard she had to work in her previous matches, recovering from a set down in three consecutive contests before the final. Gauff was far from perfect in her previous matches, but fought past issues in her game.

She has done that multiple times, and it is now fair to ask whether the 20-year-old is the mentally toughest player in the women's game.

Coco Gauff has stayed near the top despite the issues in her game

The two issues in Gauff's game throughout the year have been obvious: her forehand and second serve, with the latter being the prominent issue. Gauff has hit more double-faults than any other player in the WTA Top 100 this year, which is an eyebrow-raising statistic for someone inside the Top 10 for so long.

There have also been several matches where Gauff leaked errors consistently from her forehand. Most players would be unable to cope with one component of their game going missing, let alone two. Yet, Gauff has managed to stay competitive throughout the season. Her results did drop during the grass and North American hard court seasons, but even then, she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and the US Open.

Gauff made the semifinals of the Australian Open, French Open, Indian Wells Open, and Italian Open despite consistently struggling with her forehand and second serve. She achieved that by digging in numerous times and finding a way to win matches despite what was wrong in her game.

Could Swiatek and Sabalenka find a way to fight through such issues?

Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka's respective levels have unquestionably been the most impressive on the WTA Tour throughout 2024. They are locked in a race to end the year at the top of the rankings, but the two women have been the best players in 2024, regardless of how the season finishes.

Mentality and fighting through adversity are very particular issues. Could Swiatek or Sabalenka have come through so many matches if they had two significant technical issues in their game? Swiatek memorably saved match points in the Madrid Open final and at the French Open against Naomi Osaka, but she was performing near her best throughout both of those high-quality matches.

In fact, Swiatek has struggled with finding a way to win when struggling for much of the season. For example, her backhand was below the bar during her semifinal of the Olympics against Qinwen Zheng, and she panicked, suffering an unexpected straight-sets defeat. Her surprising losses at this year's Australian Open and Wimbledon were similar.

Sabalenka is naturally the best hard-court player in the world and is also adept on other surfaces. That means she dominates almost every match she plays. However, the Belarusian has also faced issues with getting over the line when not every aspect of her game is working. Sabalenka's 2023 US Open final against Gauff is a good example. Neither woman played at their best in a tense final, but it was Sabalenka who collapsed in the third set.

Swiatek and Sabalenka are more complete, but Gauff's mentality could be unmatched

The two women at the top of the WTA rankings have fewer technical issues in their game. That makes it easier for them to consistently win matches until Gauff moves past her second serve and forehand issues. Gauff managed those problems excellently in the China Open final, but the previous matches showed that they will remain a recurring problem in the medium term at least.

However, Gauff has not received enough credit for staying competitive and is now winning a significant title with those problems. Almost every other player would get demoralized with their second serve and forehand breaking down so often, but not Gauff. Her courage and tennis IQ to find a way to keep winning matches have been outstanding.

The tournaments before the US Open were the only occasions she lost in the early rounds in consecutive tournaments, and fatigue after the Olympics probably played a part in that.

Despite their brilliance, Swiatek and Sabalenka have become flustered when one part of their game breaks down. Gauff is mentally at least at their level and will undoubtedly consistently challenge those two if she irons out her serve and forehand problems.

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