Coco Gauff told what she does better than Novak Djokovic by 18-time major winner ahead of $5m Saudi prize.

Ahead of the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, this week, Coco Gauff has drawn high praise from Martina Navratilova.

Coco Gauff is gunning for one more bit of success as the 2025 tennis season comes to an end.

While Gauff has endured a season full of ups and downs, this year will ultimately be remembered as a successful one as she won another major at the French Open and picked the Masters 1000 title in Wuhan.

And now she’s being backed to close the season on high at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, by 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova.

Gauff, who won the WTA Finals last year and picked up the largest prize money check in women’s tennis history at $4.8 million, qualified for the tournament for the fourth straight year in September.

The 21-year-old is heading into Riyadh on a roll after capturing the Wuhan Open title earlier this month.

That victory was her ninth WTA title on hard courts and saw her become the first woman in the Open Era to win her first nine hard-court finals.

“She’s played nine hard-court finals and won them all. That’s crazy,” Navratilova, an eight-time WTA Finals winner in singles, told WTA.com.

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Navratilova then heaped further praise on Gauff when she described her backhand as being a key weapon, which has even more power than 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.

“One of those was last year in Riyadh, so look out if she gets rolling again. Her backhand is like [Novak] Djokovic’s — maybe with even more power. It’s money,” she added.

“When the serve is happening, it’s a real weapon, and I’m glad she’s figuring that out. Her movement is better than anybody else.

“She can always depend on that. It’s the one thing fully under her control.

“She knows she can run and defend no matter what. Then she manages the rest. When she comes forward, she has a very good volley, and it’s hard to get the ball past her.

“She just won in Wuhan, so she should be confident.”

When are the WTA Finals?
The WTA Finals begin on November 1 to close the season.

Gauff is the third seed, only behind world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

The other five players include Amanda Anisimova, who suffered back-to-back Grand Slam final defeats at Wimbledon and the US Open, fellow American Jessica Pegula, Australian Open champion Madison Keys, Elena Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini.

WTA Finals Prize Money
While official figures haven’t been announced for the 2025 edition, the WTA announced last year that as part of the three-year deal for Riyadh to host the season-ending championship, prize money for the tournament is being raised $15.25m (£12m), a 70-percent increase from the Cancun final in 2023.

So if the figures remain the same for 2025, it means the Riyadh singles champion will win a minimum of $4.45 million, and could take home as much as $5,155,000.