The champion's curse strikes again, Gauff repeatedly suffers revenge in the finals and exits in disappointment.

It is well recognized that the year-end finals rank just below the four Grand Slams in importance each year. Typically, defending champions are seen as strong contenders in many tennis events. Yet, at the WTA year-end finals, the defending champions have faced tough challenges. Over the past few years, none have advanced to the semifinals. So, what will be the fate of this year’s defending champion at the WTA year-end finals? Let this article guide you through it today.

This year’s WTA year-end finals defending champion is the young American player Gauff, who won her first career clay-court Grand Slam title during the 2025 season. Moreover, Gauff also secured two WTA 1000 tournament titles.

Interestingly, both Belarusian Sabalenka and American Pegula, who are in the same group as her, faced Gauff in finals this year, and Gauff defeated them to claim those titles. This means she will face two opponents in the group stage whom she has already beaten in finals, which objectively puts Gauff in a very favorable position.

In the first group match, Gauff’s opponent was her compatriot Pegula. In the opening set, Pegula showed great consistency from the baseline, quickly taking control of the match. She pressured Gauff with deep returns, forcing errors from her under pressure. Pegula won the set 6-3, gaining an early advantage toward qualification.

In the second set, unwilling to give up, Gauff fought back and pushed the set to a tiebreak. In the tiebreak, Gauff’s more decisive attacks and fewer mistakes earned her the victory, leveling the match and forcing a final set.

In the deciding set, Pegula regained her focus and brought the match back to her familiar rhythm, while Gauff’s form wavered and unforced errors increased noticeably. Pegula seized the opportunity, breaking Gauff’s serve multiple times to widen the gap. She won 6-2, avenging her recent loss to Gauff in the China Open final.

In the second group match, Gauff performed exceptionally well, conceding only five games to Italian Paolini, who had reached two Grand Slam finals before. After the win, Gauff still held hope of reaching the semifinals. Her final group match was against Russian Sabalenka.

Right from the start of the first set, Gauff broke Sabalenka’s serve to take the lead. However, Sabalenka quickly broke back, closing the gap. Gauff broke again, but at a crucial moment, Sabalenka struck back by breaking Gauff’s serve in a game that could have won the set, pushing the set into a tiebreak. Despite trailing in points, Sabalenka remained resilient, scoring consecutive points to reach set point and then clinching the tiebreak to take the first set, bringing her close to qualification.

In the second set, defending champion Gauff’s form noticeably declined, with errors increasing. Meanwhile, Sabalenka grew stronger and ultimately won 6-2, achieving a third consecutive group-stage victory and avenging her recent reversal against Gauff in the French Open final.

Thus, despite being the defending champion, Gauff managed only one win in this year’s WTA year-end finals group stage. Her poor performance prevented her from advancing to the semifinals, and the champion’s curse continues. Who will be able to break this curse? We can only wait and see next year. That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)