Coco Gauff assesses the Wuhan Open conditions and says why she has no expectations for the tournament

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Fresh off her China Open win Coco Gauff is now up and running at the Wuhan Open.

There has been little time for Gauff to rest after she clinched her eighth career title, which was her first tournament working with new coach Matt Daly.

Three days after Gauff claimed her second title of the season in China, the American arrived in Wuhan to play in the tournament for the first time.

On Tuesday morning she reached the next round of the WTA 1000 evnt by beating Viktoriya Tomova for the loss of just three games.

What does Coco Gauff think of the Wuhan Open conditions?

Coco Gauff has struggled with her serve for some time, but it was in top form against Tomova.

She made 63% of her first serves and won 83% of the points behind her first delivery, and 88% behind the second, which has caused most of her problems on serve.

Gauff was solid from the baseline and showed off her supreme athleticism by tracking down a drop shot that clipped the net, and hit it cross court for a superb winner while 4-1 up in the first set.

The 2023 US Open winner needed just one hour and 15 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-2 win and post-match she explained how the Wuhan conditions differ to Beijing.

“Yeah it’s a lot different in Beijing, a little bit slower today,” Gauff said during her on-court interview. “So I was just trying to adjust to the court, but I’m happy with how I played overall.”

What are Coco Gauff’s expectations for the Wuhan Open?

Gauff played down her expectations for the China Open before going on to win the tournament.

The World number four’s view has not changed for the Wuhan Open, and she claims she is taking things step by step in one of the last big tournaments before November’s WTA Finals.

“I have zero expectations for this tournament honestly, just trying to get through each match,” Gauff said.

“It’s been a long couple of weeks but I’m happy to get through today and we’ll see how the rest of the tournament goes.”

In the next round Gauff will take on Ukraine’s Marta Kostuyk, who she has beaten twice in three meetings. A tight affair can be expected, as each of the pair’s previous encounters have gone to three sets.