Why Coco Gauff did her talking about the WTA Finals hot mic on the court

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.This week, the WTA Finals opened with a little irony and two Americans got valuable lessons from opposing results in finals.If you’d like to follow our fantastic tennis coverage, click here.Why did the WTA Finals round-robin start with some good-natured poetic justice?Last Wednesday, the WTA Finals set tennis aflame. In a private conversation on a practice court, world No. 5 Jessica Pegula told one of her coaches, Mark Knowles, that French Open champion Mirra Andreeva was a “diva”; that she had “lost respect” for the way Andreeva’s coach, Conchita Martínez, handled the 19-year-old’s temperament; and that if Andreeva had Coco Gauff’s mentality, she would be a better player than Gauff.The practice was livestreamed and a hot mic caught Pegula’s comments, which quickly went around the world. A representative for Pegula said he had no idea it was being filmed or recorded.By Thursday, the WTA had apologized for not fully informing any of the players at Indian Wells, Calif., that there were microphones on the practice courts. By Sunday, it was time for the round-robin stage of the flagship event in women’s tennis to begin. Of course, Pegula and Gauff were playing each other, with a little extra narrative tension and spice in the air — just not between them personally.Pegula, 32, had already personally apologized to those involved and two-time Grand Slam champion Gauff, 22, ultimately did her talking on the court. She prevailed 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 against her friend, compatriot and former doubles partner in an up-and-down match.Pegula spurned three chances to break Gauff and serve for the opening stanza. Instead, Gauff broke Pegula in the very next game to take a one-set lead. In the second, Pegula snapped Gauff’s momentum with two quick breaks to lead 3-0 and then 5-1. A deciding set duly arrived, but after six more games and a tiebreak rather than just a few points. Those extra rallies sapped Pegula’s energy, and Gauff ran away with the third in front of a sold-out crowd.“Before I even saw the video, she came and apologized immediately,” Gauff said during a mixed zone after the win.“Honestly, I didn’t really take it … I feel like maybe the other person in the situation (Andreeva) got a lot more of it. They both — even her coach — apologized to me. So yeah, I think for me, I’m a competitor, so I’m always going to compete regardless of what’s happening off the court.“But yeah, I know her heart, and it was all good. I don’t feel any type of way.”Pegula was similarly reflective — about the impact of the second set, rather than what had transpired earlier in the week.“It’s tough when a match gets really physical against Coco,” she said in the mixed zone.“To be honest, it’s probably not in my favor. I think the first two sets, especially, were super physical, and I just had a little lull at the beginning of the third, which was unfortunate.”In the other match in their group, Wimbledon champion Linda Nosková defeated alternate Marta Kostyuk, who replaced defending champion Elena Rybakina, 6-2, 6-4.What did a final defeat teach one American?Before and after their Paris Masters final Sunday, Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz were in agreement about where it would be won or lost: The small details.That was true of September’s epic U.S. Open quarterfinal, which Shelton won in five seesawing sets at 3:33 a.m., and it was true again in the French capital. This time, Alcaraz triumphed 7-6(5), 6-4 in two tight, at times uneven quality sets. It gave Alcaraz his maiden Paris Masters title, leaving him with just the Canadian Open and the Shanghai Masters missing from his ATP 1000 resumé. Only two men, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, have won all nine of the events in that category.Shelton, 24, who built on his New York win over Alcaraz by reaching his first Grand Slam final, was under no illusions about what had made the difference.“There are a couple of small areas today I wish I would have been better. One of them was placement of my first serve. I wasn’t accurate. I would have liked to be a lot more accurate,” he said in a news conference.“Obviously with Carlos’ speed, you feel the pressure of losing the advantage that you have after your serve.”Shelton’s numbers were actually a little better than he might have thought — he was serving closer to the sideline than average into Alcaraz’s backhand on the ad side and the deuce side. But his accuracy was significantly lower than average when going into Alcaraz’s forehand on the deuce side.Shelton’s first-serve points won percentage also dropped precipitously below his averages across all directions, except down the T on the deuce side — Shelton’s best serve — and into Alcaraz’s body on the same side, a serve that Shelton hit just three times in their match.Some of this comes from the fact that Alcaraz has one of the best first-serve returns in the sport. Some of it, Shelton said, comes from the fact that very fast indoor conditions, which suit him on the surface, aren’t as aligned with the nuances of his game as fans might expect.“I’m somebody who likes to make the ball jump out of the zone, kick serves, heavy forehands, changing pace. Those serves, they don’t jump as high on this surface, they’re not as effective, so I don’t use them as much,” he said.Still, after a sobering loss to world No. 222 Jérôme Kym the previous week, a final defeat to one of the two best players in men’s tennis is a better return.And what did a maiden title teach another?There were four years between Claire Liu’s first and second finals on the WTA Tour, and the long wait proved to be the whole point.On Sunday, Liu, the 26-year-old American, defeated rising Filipino star Alex Eala 6-3, 6-0 to win the Hong Kong Tennis Open. It is her first WTA Tour title, as well as the latest milestone in her return to tennis, after she took a six-month break to manage burnout in the middle of 2024. Liu did not drop a set on her way to the championship.This summer, Liu, a junior Wimbledon champion and world No. 1, reached the third round of the Grand Slam proper for the first time. During an interview in London in July, she explained how her approach to life had not necessarily been compatible with tennis. Its most famous ascents to stardom appear linear, but for the vast majority of players, the sport’s ladder-like system of rankings and tournament categories is in constant opposition to the fact that they lose as much as, or even more than, they win.“Wrapping my head around the fact that there is only so much you can control in tennis, and in life in general, took me a long time,” Liu said. “A few years ago, I was top 100 and almost top 50. I kept trying to control the narrative of like, ‘I’ll get to top 100, then top 50, and then this …’“Making it linear, when life isn’t like that.”The same was true of her run toward the Hong Kong final. The previous week, Liu lost in the opening round of the Guangzhou Open to 16-year-old Chinese talent Sun Xinran.“After that match, I was just really, really sad. I don’t know what I’m going to do; I’m going to lose the first round next week. … In some ways I think that prepared me to just, like, I need to let some of the things go, when I put pressure and expectation on myself,” she said in a news conference in Hong Kong.“As much as I want an outcome or a ranking or something, try to bring it back to myself.Point of the week (and probably the year)One of the match points between Carlos Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz in the Paris Masters quarterfinals was rich, but this point was from another galaxy. Fritz delivers a perfect running forehand off his back foot, a strong backhand approach and a wonderful overhead backhand volley — but none of them are an answer to Alcaraz.🏆 The winners of the week🎾 ATP: 🏆 Carlos Alcaraz (2) def. Ben Shelton (3) 7-6(5), 7-5 to win the Paris Masters (1,000) in Paris. It is Alcaraz’s 29th tour singles title.🎾 WTA:🏆 Claire Liu def. Alexandra Eala (2) 6-3, 6-0 to win the Hong Kong Tennis Open (250) in Hong Kong. It is the American’s first tour singles title.🏆 Magda Linette (3) def. Janice Tjen (1) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 to win the Chennai Open (250) in Chennai, India. It is the Pole’s fourth tour singles title.📈📉 On the rise / Down the line📈 Claire Liu moves up 33 places from No. 102 to No. 69.📈 Luca van Assche ascends 14 spots from No. 47 to No. 33, a career high.📈 Bianca Andreescu reenters the top 100 after rising nine spots from No. 109.📈 Rinky Hijikata rises 24 spots from No. 83 to No. 59, also a career high.📉 Cameron Norrie leaves the top 50, falling six places from No. 45 to No. 51.📉 Renata Zarazúa drops 17 places from No. 97 to No. 114.📉 Sebastian Korda leaves the top 100, tumbling 15 spots from No. 86 to No. 101.📉 Oleksandra Oliynykova moves down eight spots from No. 62 to No. 70.📅 Coming up🎾 ATP 📍Stockholm: Stockholm Open (250) featuring Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune, Lorenzo Musetti, Casper Ruud.📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV🎾 WTA📍Indian Wells, Calif.: WTA Finals featuring Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva, Linda Nosková.📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis ChannelTell us what you noticed this week in the comments below as the men’s and women’s tours continue.This article originally appeared in The Athletic.Sports Business, Culture, Tennis, Women's Tennis2026 The Athletic Media Company