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The Czech Karolina Muchova is considered a great promise in tennis. Although she defeated Aryna Sabalenka and Qinwen Zheng in Beijing, it was not enough for her second tournament victory.

On the left the smile is much wider: Coco Gauff (left) and Karolina Muchova with the trophies. IMAGO/Xinhua

Former US Open winner Coco Gauff won the WTA tournament in Beijing and won her second title in a competition in the 1000 category. As in the final in Cincinnati 2023, the 20-year-old American prevailed against the Czech Karolina Muchova.

After 77 minutes the victory was perfect with 6:1, 6:3 and Gauff was richer by 1.1 million dollars in prize money. With her eighth tournament victory and only one final defeat, Gauff moves up to fourth place in the world rankings.

Gauff nun 8:1 in Finals

The unseeded 28-year-old Muchova suffered her fifth defeat in her sixth WTA final. She had previously defeated top seed Aryna Sabalenka during the tournament, ending her series of 15 wins in a row. The Chinese Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng also failed because of Muchova.

A much closer, more competitive final was therefore expected. Muchova, who was most recently in the semi-finals at the US Open, is considered to be clearly underrated given her performance, with her world ranking position 49th.

In contrast to Muchova, Gauff, who is eight years her junior, seems to deal with the pressure in finals much better: her record there is now 8:1.

The women of Alba Berlin also won their second game of the season in the DBBL. On Sunday afternoon they defeated Marburg 76:65. The decisive factor was a 22-0 run in the second quarter, with which the Berliners took a decisive lead early on.

At the beginning, the German champions from Berlin had some problems, without regular players Deeshyra Thomas, Maggie Mulligan and Tessa Stammberger. The Marburgers initially took the lead with eleven points. In the second quarter, the Albatrosses turned things around and took over the game with their run. At halftime they were already leading by seven points.

In the third quarter, the Berliners continued to pull away. They were particularly superior to Marburg when it came to rebounds and throwing effectiveness. With the score at 61:41, the game was almost decided before the final period. The hosts were able to shorten the gap again, but Alba ultimately took home the victory confidently. The best thrower for the Berlin women was Lena Gohlisch with 19 points, and Stefi Grigoleit also scored in double figures (13 points). Thanks to the early lead, coach Cristo Cabrera was even able to rotate a bit, only captain Gohlisch remained on the floor for around 25 minutes.

Next Thursday (October 10th, 7:30 p.m.) the women of Alba Berlin will compete in an international competition for the first time – in the Euro Cup they will face VBW Gdynia.

Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers said Friday that he is looking forward to facing one of his childhood baseball idols, Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres, in the National League Divisional Series.

“Darvish was a star player when I was little,” Ohtani said at a news conference at Dodger Stadium a day before Game 1 of the best-of-five series on Saturday. “I’ve watched him on TV ever since and he was one of the players I looked up to.”

Ohtani dreamed of competing against baseball star Darvish

Ohtani said his only disappointment is that Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto won’t start against Darvish. Yamamoto is scheduled for Game 1, Darvish for Game 2.

“The chance to face Darvish in the postseason is really a big deal for me. Personally, I was hoping to see him throw against Yoshinobu, but that probably won’t happen, so I’ll just look forward to Darvish and try to do my best.”

The three stars were Japanese teammates in the World Baseball Classic in March 2023, as was left-handed Padres reliever Yuki Matsui.

Ohtani, who moved to Major League Baseball after five seasons in Japan’s Major League Baseball, including three postseason appearances with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League, was asked if he felt any pressure playing in his first MLB Postseason games.

“No,” he said in English.

“Not really at the moment,” he added in Japanese. “Of course, sometimes you can score and sometimes you can’t. It’s best not to dwell on what happened in the game before. That’s also important for the team.”

Yamamoto is also ready to take responsibility

Yamamoto, who moved to the MLB this season after being named the league’s MVP and the nation’s most impressive starting pitcher in three straight seasons in Japan, returned to the mound in September after suffering a triceps strain.

He said he felt fit and ready to play, but was surprised to be used in Game 1 after originally being scheduled for Game 2.

“I found out about the change yesterday and was surprised,” he said. “The result of Game 1 has a big impact on how the series goes, so I want to live up to that responsibility and give it my all on the field.

Yamamoto, who started for the Orix Buffaloes in Game 1 of the last three Japan series, was asked if his experience in big games was important.

“There’s a positive in that, but I want to approach these games the way I normally do and focus on one pitch at a time,” said Yamamoto, who was also asked about this being his first postseason game.

“October is special,” he said. “It’s something you feel in the atmosphere more than what people say about it. I don’t know if I would call it fun while I’m in the game, but it would be great to see it that way after the game.”