The Best Weekend in Tennis — The Cousin Final & The Art of Winning Ugly
This past weekend felt like tennis perfection — one of those rare moments where everything that makes the sport beautiful lined up at once.
Two cousins played each other in a Masters 1000 final in Shanghai. Two Americans battled in the Wuhan final. And for me, it was the best weekend in tennis all year.
Let’s start with Wuhan. Coco Gauff vs. Jessica Pegula.
Gauff’s run to the title was a masterclass in what I like to call winning ugly — finding any way to win, even when the technique isn’t perfect, the forehand isn’t firing, or the serve isn’t pristine. It’s the Brad Gilbert philosophy of playing smarter, staying adaptable, and thinking your way out of trouble.
Gauff came into Wuhan after a tough loss in Beijing, but this week she just looked sharper — especially in that rematch against Laura Siegmund, which was the cleanest, most confident version of Coco I’ve seen since clay season. And then there was the semifinal against Jasmine Paolini, who had just beaten Iga Swiatek for the first time. Paolini had beaten Coco three times this year alone, but this time Gauff flipped the script.
On the other side, Jessica Pegula had to work for everything — four straight three-set matches to make the final, including a big win over Aryna Sabalenka, the “Queen of Wuhan.” By the time she got to the championship, she’d already played nearly twice the tennis Coco had.
In the end, Coco handled it in straight sets. She’s now defended her points from last year, sits firmly inside the top three, and continues to prove that “winning ugly” isn’t a flaw — it’s a superpower.
Then came Shanghai — the Cousin Final.
Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech, cousins from Monaco and France, facing each other in a Masters 1000 final. Valentin came in ranked outside the top 200, entered qualifying as the ninth alternate, and somehow ended up beating Novak Djokovic. Arthur beat Zverev and Medvedev to get there.
No one — no one — saw this coming. And yet there they were, family across the net, playing for the biggest title of their lives. Valentin won it in three sets, the kind of fearless, emotional tennis that reminds you why we all love this sport.
For both of them, this changes everything.
Valentin is now top 40 and guaranteed main-draw spots at every Slam next year. Arthur jumps into seeded territory. Two cousins just rewrote their careers in one week.
From Coco’s grit to the cousins’ miracle runs, this weekend was a reminder that the sport isn’t just about perfection — it’s about resilience, timing, and belief.
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