BEIJING – Coco Gauff won her second title this season with a lopsided 6-1, 6-3 victory over Karolina Muchova in the China Open final on Sunday.

The 20-year-old Gauff, ranked sixth, became the youngest China Open champion in 14 years. She is also the second American champion in Beijing, following Serena Williams’ title fights in 2004 and 2013.

It was Gauff’s eighth career title. She improved her record in tour finals to 8-1 and now has a record of 7-0 in hard-court finals, a feat never achieved before in the Open era.

“I want to congratulate you Karolina, it’s great to see you back on tour,” Gauff said of Muchova, who sat on the sidelines for an extended period after suffering a wrist injury at the 2023 US Open. “I think you’re such a great player, you deserve everything and hopefully you’ll play a lot more finals.”

The tournament was Gauff’s first after adding Matt Daly to her coaching staff following her parting ways with Brad Gilbert last month.

“I would like to thank my team. It’s our first tournament together as a complete team,” said Gauff. “Thanks Matt, this is our first tournament together and it’s obviously going well, so thanks for helping me this week.”

Gauff, who defended her Auckland title earlier this season, wasted no time taking the first set in just 31 minutes. She dropped just five points on her first serve, hit 24 winners and broke Muchova five times.

Gauff’s victory in Beijing improved her chances of qualifying for the WTA Finals with the top eight players for the third time in a row.

With her title she will overtake Jessica Pegula and secure fifth place ahead of the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season, the Wuhan Open, which starts on Monday.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.