American teenager Coco Gauff claimed the biggest title of her career with a straight-set win over Karolina Muchova in the Cincinnati Open final.
Gauff followed up her shock win over top seed Iga Swiatek in the semi-final with a 6-3 6-4 victory over her Czech opponent in Sunday’s final.
It is the 19-year-old’s fifth career title and her third of 2023 after wins in Washington DC and Auckland.
Victory gives Gauff a huge boost before the US Open which starts on 28 August.
The American also becomes the first teenager to win three WTA titles in one year since Bianca Andreescu in 2019.
Seventh seed Gauff broke her opponent – who she was facing for the first time – three times in the first set and confidently served out the opener to love in her first WTA 1000 final appearance.
Muchova, whose is set to enter the top 10 for the first time, struggled for consistency and a missed backhand in the fifth game of the second set gave Gauff the break.
Although the American failed to convert three match-point chances while serving at 5-2, she made amends in her next service game to seal victory.
“This is unbelievable, especially after everything I went through in the summer in Europe,” Gauff said, reflecting on her struggles earlier this season including a first-round exit at Wimbledon.
“I’m just happy to be here in this moment. I spent a lot of nights alone crying, trying to figure it out.”
In the men’s doubles final, Jamie Murray and New Zealand’s Michael Venus had a championship point against Argentina’s Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni but lost 3-6 6-1 11-9.
Gonzalez, 40, sent down a second-serve ace when facing championship point at 8-9 in the match tie-break and two points later he struck the decisive return off a Venus serve.