Coco Gauff began her title defense campaign at the China Open by defeating a tricky opponent, Kamila Rakhimova, in her debut. The World No. 3 arrived in Beijing with a tough mission: defending the title and 1000 ranking points at a delicate time of the season, considering the high number of points she has riding on the final events.

"Super happy to be back here. I have great memories here from last year. Hoping to make some more good memories here," Coco Gauff said in the on-court interview, after securing the 6-4, 6-0 victory. "I just haven’t had time. But maybe tomorrow or something. I wanna go shopping so I think we’re gonna go to some of the malls here today."

The 21-year-old star was the champion in Beijing, a semifinalist in Wuhan, and champion at the WTA Finals back in 2024: a 13-

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