Coco Gauff overwhelms Jessica Pegula to win Cincinnati Open

Coco Gauff wasted little time in asserting her dominance over Jessica Pegula on Sunday, blitzing her opponent to start both sets and cruising to a 6-2, 6-4 win in the final of the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio.

It is the first title of the season for the fourth-seeded and fourth-ranked Gauff, who also won the event in 2023. She parlayed that title into her first Grand Slam championship at the 2023 U.S. Open.

The win, which earned Gauff her 12th career title, capped a dominant run in Cincinnati. After needing three sets to get past Russia's Liudmila Samsonova in the Round of 64, Gauff did not drop a set the rest of the way. She joins Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka as the only players to win multiple titles in Cincinnati.

After the match, Gauff was very complimentary of her fellow American.

"I'd like to thank Jess. When I first came on tour, she was one of the few players that was nice to me," the 22-year-old Gauff said. "That's always stuck a long way with me and my family. I have so much respect for you."

On Sunday, she broke Pegula's first two service games en route to a 5-0 lead in the first set. After being broken when serving for the set, Gauff broke Pegula for a third time to put away the first set.

She broke Pegula's first service game in the second set as well, rolling to a 3-0 lead before the pair again swapped service breaks to end the set and the match. The pair have now split their 10 career head-to-head meetings.

Gauff won the match behind her return game, as she converted 5 of 6 break points and won 52% of her return points to Pegula's 39%.

Pegula, seeded third and ranked No. 3 in the world, was seeking her third title in 2026. She previously won at Charleston and Dubai this season and was also seeking her 12th career title.

--Field Level Media/Reuters