US teen star Coco Gauff and Britain’s Dan Evans on Sunday captured titles with straight-set triumphs at the DC Open in Washington.
World No. 7 Gauff won her fourth career WTA title by defeating Greece’s ninth-ranked Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3, while 30th-ranked Evans dispatched world No. 37 Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-3 at the hard-court event.
Gauff, at 19 the youngest Washington WTA finalist, added to a trophy haul that also included 2019 in Linz, Austria, 2021 in Parma, Italy, and January in Auckland, New Zealand.
Photo: AP
The success came after a first-round exit at Wimbledon last month.
“It was really tough a couple weeks ago,” Gauff said. “We were all feeling it and I’m glad that I was able to bounce back.”
Gauff, last year’s French Open runner-up, had lost four of five prior matches against Sakkari, who fell to 1-7 in WTA finals with her sixth consecutive loss in a championship match.
“It’s pretty disappointing, but a month ago we didn’t think I’d be here,” Sakkari said.
Evans, a 33-year-old Englishman whose only prior ATP title came in a 2021 outdoor Melbourne event, became the first British champion in Washington since Tim Henman in 2003.
Evans, with only eight ATP Tour wins this year entering the week, advanced to a new career-high of 21st in the world after arriving in the US capital on a seven-match losing streak.
“I couldn’t have really thought about this at the start of the week. Amazing week,” Evans said. “It means the world to me. It genuinely does.”
Griekspoor was denied his third title after winning in Pune, India, in January and ’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands, in June.
“First time in DC, making finals, not too bad I guess,” Griekspoor said.
Griekspoor, 27, saved a set point in the 10th game with an ace wide, but Evans broke him in the 12th game to take the first set when the Dutchman netted a backhand after 53 minutes.
Evans had 14 winners to only three unforced errors in the opening set.
The second set was halted at 2-2 by lightning and resumed after a delay of about 2 hours, 20 minutes.
Evans broke at love for a 5-3 lead, a backhand winner and backhand-lob winner setting up a break the Dutchman surrendered on a double fault.
The Englishman saved four break points in a tense ninth game and after nearly 10 minutes blasted a service winner on his first championship point to take the title after 1 hour, 41 minutes.
Gauff, who did not drop a set all week, won the first in 42 minutes, but Sakkari broke her to begin the second. They traded service breaks in the fourth and fifth games, but Sakkari double-faulted away another break to lift Gauff level at 3-3.
Gauff held, broke in the eighth game when Sakkari swatted a forehand beyond the baseline, and held again to complete the victory after 84 minutes on a backhand winner.
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