Martina Navratilova reveals Coco Gauff’s ‘real weapon’ as she delivers verdict on WTA Finals hopes
Martina Navratilova has hailed Coco Gauff’s “crazy” record in hard-court finals as she assessed the world No 3’s game ahead of the WTA Finals.
Gauff has successfully qualified for the year-end championships for the fourth straight year and will enter this year’s WTA Finals as the reigning champion, having beaten Zheng Qinwen in an extraordinary three-set final twelve months ago.
The American’s game, and in particular her serve and forehand, have been under scrutiny at times throughout 2025, with a challenging summer seeing her lose in the opening round of Wimbledon and the fourth round of the US Open.
However, the 21-year-old captured the second Grand Slam singles title of her career at Roland Garros in June — beating world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the final — and returned to form by claiming her third WTA 1000 title at the Wuhan Open in October.
Victory in Wuhan saw Gauff claim her ninth WTA title on hard courts, and she is the first woman in the Open Era to win her first nine hard-court finals.
Speaking to the WTA ahead of this year’s WTA Finals, tennis icon and 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Navratilova hailed the American’s record in hard-court finals, and revealed how Gauff had improved in recent months.
“She’s played nine hard-court finals and won them all. That’s crazy,” said Navratilova, an eight-time WTA Finals winner in singles.
“One of those was last year in Riyadh, so look out if she gets rolling again. Her backhand is like [Novak] Djokovic’s — maybe with even more power. It’s money.
“When the serve is happening, it’s a real weapon, and I’m glad she’s figuring that out. Her movement is better than anybody else. She can always depend on that. It’s the one thing fully under her control.
“She knows she can run and defend no matter what. Then she manages the rest. When she comes forward, she has a very good volley, and it’s hard to get the ball past her.
“She just won in Wuhan, so she should be confident.”
Action in Riyadh gets underway on November 1, with just one week to go until the final WTA tournament of the 2025 season gets underway.
Gauff will be the No 3 seed at the tournament, behind No 1 Sabalenka and No 2 Iga Swiatek, and will look to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to successfully defend her title.
The ‘Elite 8’ field for Riyadh is now complete, with Elena Rybakina becoming the final player to seal her spot after reaching the semi-finals of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
