Coco Gauff reacts to WTA player finally ending her 24-match losing streak at the China Open

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Coco Gauff was delighted for one of her fellow WTA players who ended a run of 24 matches without a win.

Zhang Shuai claimed her first singles win since February 2023 when she defeated America’s McCartney Kessler 7-6, 7-6 in the opening round of the China Open.

The 35-year-old has reached round two and will face the tournament’s sixth seed Emma Navarro, who has had a strong season.

But Gauff, who has played doubles with Shuai in the past, was one of those players who was delighted for the veteran after she secured one of the most important wins of her career.

What did Coco Gauff say about Zhang Shuai ending her losing streak at the China Open?

Coco Gauff is in Beijing looking to get her season back on track after a disappointing summer.

The World number six has now separated from her coach Brad Gilbert and she is feeling refreshed ahead of the Asian swing.

Ahead of her China Open campaign Gauff had some kind words for Zhang, who had the second-highest losing streak in WTA Tour history behind Madeleine Pegel, who lost 29 matches from 1968 to 1972.

“It was tough to see her going through the streak, but honestly through it all you would have never noticed she was going through that,” Gauff told WTA Insider.

“I’ve seen her literally five minutes after matches and she would still say hi to me and be so excited to see me, which, I’m not like that after I lose. That just shows the type of person she is. I’ve learned a lot from her.”

What did Zhang Shuai say to Coco Gauff after the 2023 French Open?

Gauff continued to praise Shuai and she recalled the time that the two-time Grand Slam doubles champion gave her a pep talk.

Following her French Open quarter-final loss to Iga Swiatek in 2023, Shuai told Gauff that she will go on to win a Grand Slam.

These words stuck with Gauff and just three months later, the 20-year-old went on to win her first major at the US Open.

“She said ‘Don’t worry Coco. You will win a Grand Slam. I have so much belief in you. I would bet my life on it’,” she said. “And then I won US Open!

“I never told her that, but it stuck with me for a long time, just that she had that belief in me. I think every player on tour likes her so it’s so great to see her win. I love her. She deserves everything.”