When Coco Gauff was lying on her back on the side of the court to receive treatment for a back injury, things looked bleak for the American in her match against Marta Kostyuk at the WTA Finals. The World No. 4 was in visible discomfort in a match that was in must-win territory for her to reach the next round. However, as has happened many times this year, the home favorite rallied to win, after which she spoke about her motivations for completing the match.

“Well, I mean, I have a car and five million reasons,” said Gauff in her on-court interview. “So I want to try to win. I’m just kidding. No, I mean, just competing out here honestly, it’s the end of the season, so I’m just trying to give it my all. I mean, maybe if this match was in the middle of the season might not have finished it. It’s the final push, and let’s just see what I can do. So I’m definitely taking this as a learning experience. And yeah, but obviously I won this title two years ago. It meant a lot to me, but I think it would mean even more to me to do it here at home. So hopefully we’ll see what happens.”

A brand-new Mercedes and a hefty paycheck are no doubt great motivation, although Gauff seems to be off a little bit with the number as far as the prize money is concerned. The World No. 4 herself earned over $4.8 million in 2024, when she won the WTA Finals in Riyadh, but the relocation to Indian Wells has significantly reduced the 2026 prize purse for players. Given that she ended the group stage with a 2-1 record, the American is set to receive a $3.14 million check, per the new prize money stipulations.

As for the match, the American had a decent start, breaking Kostyuk’s serve three times in the opening set to win it 6-4. The home favorite was vulnerable on her serve, getting broken twice in the set, which hampered her at the beginning of the second set, where she was forced to take a medical timeout as she was 3-0 down. Once she returned, the scoreline looked even worse at 1-5, and a third set looked imminent.

However, as people have come to expect of Gauff, the American dug deep in the match, saving three set points in the seventh game to make it 2-5. Once she was able to save those set points, there was no looking back for the World No. 4 as she won five consecutive games from then on, converting on her first match point to win the set 7-5.

This is not the first time Gauff has come back from an improbable match situation, especially this year, when the American has won three matches after being down match points. At the WTA Finals itself, the American rallied back from a 5-1 deficit against Jessica Pegula during her first group stage match. However, on that occasion, she could not convert on the set point at 6-5, and eventually lost the set in the tiebreak.

While she did mention pulling the plug if it were a mid-season match, it takes a lot for Gauff to retire mid-match. Known as one of the fittest players on the Tour, the World No. 4 has only two mid-match retirements in her career so far, one of which came against Alexandra Eala at Indian Wells in 2026. Given that she has already played more than 450 matches on the Tour, having only two mid-match retirements is quite impressive.

Unfortunately, for Gauff pushing through the match despite having pain did not do her any favors, as the result in the other match between Jessica Pegula and Linda Noskova did not go in her favor, knocking the former champion out.

Coco Gauff Out of The Semifinal Race At WTA Finals

Coming into the day, Gauff was aware that she had to rely on Linda Noskova to beat Jessica Pegula in the other match of the day for her to qualify. The American had spoken about the intricacies of the round-robin format, which had sparked debate over the existing rules at Indian Wells. However, while 2024 saw Gauff reach the semifinals despite losing one group match, 2026 saw her knocked out of the group stage.

The match between Pegula and Noskova was a tight one, with both players splitting the first two sets. However, Gauff must have felt optimistic when the Czech went 2-0 up in the finals. Pegula was not to be deterred, though, as she broke back immediately and even saved a match point while serving at 4-5. That was the turning point as she broke serve in the very next game, before serving it out at 7-5.

While she missed out on the semifinals, Gauff gave an update on her back after the match, but the American was confident the issue was not that serious. The 22-year-old specified one particular situation where she felt the tightness, which is a key part of her game.

“Yeah, it kind of started in the middle of my last match,” said Gauff in a Tennis Channel interview. “So, it’s just been- it’s not like painful. It’s just like tight. So, it’s just sometimes rotating; um, it just feels weird. Um, I’ve been, like, fine, like, movement-wise. It was just only on the serve that I was just like struggling a little bit.”

With the Pegula result not going in her favor, Gauff ends her season with a 49-16 win-loss record. The World No. 4 could not win any of the big events such as the Grand Slams or the Tour Finals, something she will be motivated to do in the next season.