Coco Gauff and Jasmine Paolini both claimed to have an 'advantage' heading into the WTA Finals this year

The WTA Finals are just around the corner, with the year-end tournament set to get underway on Saturday, the first of November, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Headlining the star-studded lineup is world number one Aryna Sabalenka, who, despite making the final in 2022, has never won the event.

She will be joined by 2023 and 2024 WTA Finals winners Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff, with the two stars tallying 8,195 points and 6,565 points in the race to Riyadh, respectively.

Defending champion Gauff enjoyed a strong campaign en route to the title in the Saudi capital last year, besting both Sabalenka and Swiatek in straight sets.

Having recently clinched her second title of the season in Wuhan, Gauff will look to add to her 2025 trophy collection at the WTA Finals, where she is claimed to have an advantage.

Jan-Michael Gambill discusses Coco Gauff’s chances in Riyadh

Among the contenders for the title is US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova, who former American tennis player Jan-Michael Gambill thinks could make a deep run at the competition.

“I really like her in this event,” said Gambill. “I like her indoors. She has clean ball striking. I think it’s a really open field, and that is what this tournament is about.”

The race to the WTA Finals went down to the wire, with Elena Rybakina denying Mirra Andreeva the eighth and final spot recently.

Gambill continued: “Sometimes at the end of the year, it is about mental toughness, and that’s what Coco Gauff has in spades.

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“That is why I do give her an advantage in situations like this, at the end of the year, where everyone has played a lot of tennis, and there is a lot on the line. That is Coco Gauff and Paolini. But I really do [also] like Anisimova.”

Former Australian Open semifinalist Chanda Rubin responded: “Madison Keys has been a little bit quiet the second half of the year, relatively speaking, but she is always a dangerous player.

“[Jessica] Pegula, I think she has the ability to rise to the occasion at the end of the year. She is tough, she is consistent, she has the game. She understands when she is in that space how to keep that going, and that’s important.

“When you get to the end of the season, you get down to the elite eight players in the field, you have got to have that type of mindset.”

Coco Gauff’s 2024 WTA Finals run

At the 2024 WTA Finals, Gauff earned two straight-set victories over American compatriot Jessica Pegula and Swiatek in the group stage.

She then suffered her only loss at the event that year against two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova, losing to the Czech star 7-5, 6-4.

After finishing second in her group, Gauff advanced to the semifinals, where she faced Sabalenka, whom she had lost to twice in 2024.

The US star took the first set against the Belarusian after emerging victorious in a tiebreak, and sealed the second set by six games to three to set up a final clash with Qinwen Zheng.

Zheng took the first set in the final, but Gauff fought back and took the decisive third set in a tiebreak to win the WTA Finals for the first time.

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