What a showdown! Coco Gauff is back—and in electrifying style. After a roller coaster season, she’s reminding everyone exactly why she’s a force to be reckoned with. Each step closer to the WTA Finals title isn’t just about outplaying her opponents; it’s about sparking a new love for the sport among fans in Riyadh. Match by match, Gauff isn’t only proving she’s here to win—she’s escalating the excitement and bringing tennis alive for everyone watching.

The American tennis sensation played against Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals and managed to avenge the defeat she faced in the Wuhan Open. Gauff defeated the Belarusian star in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-3, to advance to the finals of the tournament where she will be facing Qinwen Zheng. But on her road to victory, she was successful enough in bringing enough fans to the stands – breaking the trend of low audience turnout in Riyadh.

In a video that surfaced on X, the stands in Riyadh can be seen more crowded than before, with fans cheering up immensely for the American star. This comes at a time when the organizers faced flak for choosing Riyadh as the venue for the WTA Finals. When Gauff took on Jessica Pegula on Sunday, a working day in Riyadh, less than 10% of seats were filled with an audience turnout of around 400, for a stadium with occupancy for 5000 spectators. 

Interestingly, the price of the tickets is also capped at affordable rates starting from as low as $7.19. The poor turnout also witnessed criticism from fans and experts alike, with former British player Tim Henman highlighting the inconsistencies. Henman hit out at the WTA officials earlier for the selection of venue and said, “If we move past that and just look at this WTA Finals as an event, it’s extremely disappointing when you’ve got the world’s best players – Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff – performing in front of a crowd like that today.” However, Riyadh is not the only place to have witnessed poor audience turnout in the WTA Finals. 

In 2022, the match between Jessica Pegula and Maria Sakkari witnessed a similar fate in Fort Worth Texas where there were just a few hundred people sitting in the audience and watching the match. Similar scenes unfolded in Cancun as well last year where Iga Swiatek clinched the title. But now, Gauff’s athletic prowess seems to be breaking this unfortunate trend with comparatively more audience influx to the stands. For Gauff, the most important thing now is to keep dominating the court fashionably and return home with a title. 

“Not really nervous” Coco Gauff demonstrates confidence ahead of the finals

Coco Gauff has struggled quite a lot this season. She faced serious challenges with her service games and managed to win only two titles, one at the ASB Classic and the other at the China Open. But now, she seems to be flaring up her game and baffling her opponents in style. Now, as she reached the finals of the WTA Final and will face Qinwen Zheng, she seems to be confident enough. 

Speaking about her opponent in the post-match interview, Gauff said, “She’s playing great tennis. Just playing confident tennis will help give me the best shot at winning. I’m not really nervous to be honest. I always consider Year-End Finals just a plus. Being here is a reward for the season that I had.” She also expressed her happiness over her victory against Sabalenka while singing praises for the Belarusian. 

“I’m happy with how I played. I know going against Aryna it’s always going to be tough. I just tried to stay in it. She’s world #1 for a reason. I’m just happy with how I played today,” Gauff added. For now, it would be interesting to see if this confidence and the audience support she is receiving would help her return from Riyadh with the glorious title.