Coco Gauff said her "stubborn" decision to defy her coach and play in China after a tough US Open had paid off after she beat Jessica Pegula 6-4, 7-5 yesterday to clinch the third WTA 1000 title of her career in Wuhan.

The 21-year-old Gauff secured the Wuhan Open without dropping a set after a one hour and 42min battle in the central Chinese city and became the first player in the Open Era to win her first nine hard-court finals.

"It was a great Asian swing," said Gauff, who reached the semifinals in Beijing last week, before winning the Wuhan Open.

"I'm going to call JC out," she said, referring to her coach Jean-Christophe Faurel.

"He originally didn't want me to come because I had a tough US Open, but I had to prove him wrong.

"I'm a very stubborn person so maybe he said that on purpose for me to have a good result here."

In the first final between the former doubles partners, Gauff came from behind several times in the second set against her fellow American.

The pair had contrasting routes to the final with Gauff dropping a mere 16 games while Pegula battled through three-setters in all eight of her previous matches in China.