Both times, Gauff says, she succeeded because she felt less pressure, both from herself and her countrymen back home.
“I think the U.S. swing is very stressful for all the American players,” Gauff said this week. “I think just coming here on the other side of the world where there’s maybe less attention on us makes me feel a little bit freer playing here.”
More important, Gauff has also found a way to lower her own expectations as the WTA calendar winds down. Last year, and again this year, she says she treated Beijing and Wuhan like “preseason” events. The point was not so much to win them, as it was to work on her weaknesses, and see what she could improve for 2026.
“It just feels different at the end of the year,” Gauff said when she got to Beijing three weeks ago. “I feel definitely a lot lighter. It feels, again, like a practice tournament. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Once again, lighter was better for Gauff, especially in Wuhan. She didn’t drop a set in five matches, and she won two bagel sets early on. In the semis and final, she knocked off a pair of Top 10 opponents in Jasmine Paolini and Jessica Pegula. Coming into the final, she had broken serve 22 times, or more than four times per match.
