Coco Gauff: I'm happy that I could 'Buy one, get one free'

Coco Gauff made it a double delight as she qualified for both the singles and doubles event in the season-ending WTA Finals in Fort Worth, Texas set from October 31 to November 7.

Gauff, along with Caroline Garcia, secured spots in the tight race for the eight-top-8 ranked woman in singles after Liudmila Samsonova beat Aryna Sabalenka, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, in the second round of the Guadalajara Open, where the young American ace and Garcia are also participating.

Gauff later beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto, 7-6(1), 6-3, to solidify her position in the draw for the year-end championships.

The 18-year-old Gauff earlier qualified for the doubles event together with partner Jessica Pegula last week. Pegula, like Gauff, also made it to the singles draw where top-2 players Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur are early qualifiers.

Gauff, who reached her first Grand Slam singles final at Roland Garros this June, said in her post-match interview that she was happy to make it "buy one, get one" in her first WTA Finals appearance.

"I'm just super excited. I wasn't really thinking about it, to be honest, before the match. But I'm excited to join Jess (Jessica Pegula) out there. She got qualified last week, so I'm just happy that I was able to do it here. It's my first WTA Finals for singles and doubles. I'm happy that I could 'Buy one, get one free,' so two for one," said Coco Gauff during her on-court interview.

Gauff continued to live up to the hype this year, making it to the quarterfinals of the US Open three months after finishing as runner-up to Swiatek at Roland Garros.

Apart from her Major success, Gauff also reached two semifinals in Adelaide and Berlin, a WTA 250 and WTA 500 event, respectively, as well as the quarterfinals in two WTA 1000s in Doha and Toronto and the WTA 500s in San Jose and San Diego to find herself in contention for the season-ending finale.

Champions Jessica Pegula (left) and Coco Gauff (right) in San Diego

For doubles, Gauff and Pegula reached five finals, winning the WTA 1000 events in Doha and Toronto, and the WTA 500 in San Diego last week.

Gauff and Pegula also reached the championship event at Roland Garros but lost to local bets Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic.

The all-American duo reached the top spot in the doubles rankings last Aug. 15.

Coco Gauff becomes youngest player to compete in WTA Finals singles draw since Maria Sharapova

There is a lot to celebrate for Coco Gauff who made it to both the singles and doubles events in the WTA Finals.

Coco Gauff has achieved a lot in the women's tour at a young age.

At 18 years and 239 days old, Gauff added another item to the list: she became the youngest woman to contest the WTA Finals in singles since Maria Sharapova, who was 18 years and 208 days old when she competed at the event in 2005.

Gauff is also the youngest American to make it to the WTA Finals since Lindsay Davenport in 1994.

But the accolades do not stop there: Gauff is also the youngest player to compete in both the singles and doubles draws in the season-ending championships in the same year since Anna Kournikova did it in 1999 at 18 years and five months old.