Coco Gauff is one win away from winning the 2024 China Open title, her first WTA 1000 trophy of the year. For the American, the tournament started with a trip to the Forbidden City with ATP superstar Carlos Alcaraz, who ended up winning the men’s tournament earlier this week.

Now, Gauff hopes to join the Spaniard as winner, which means she will also get to sit on a traditional Chinese chair, a big symbol in the country’s culture signifiying the “top spot” and more honors to come.

Alcaraz won the ATP 500 title with a win over Jannik Sinner in the final, dropping his only set of the tournament against the Italian in the summit clash. Gauff, on the other hand, has beaten the likes of Paula Badosa and Naomi Osaka on the way to the championship bout on Sunday, where she will face off against the prodigious Karolina Muchova.

At her press conference following the semifinal win over Badosa, the former US Open champion was asked about the Forbidden City trip with Alcaraz, where the duo dazzled in traditional Chinese clothes and immersed themselves in the local culture.

As Gauff was also brought up to date on the significance of Alcaraz sitting on the traditional chair following his title, the 20-year-old was mighty impressed by the historical implications and was eager to follow suit.

“I saw him sitting in the chair. I didn’t know what it had meant. That’s cool. It would be great,” Coco Gauff said.

“Yeah, my thoughts? I mean, I’m just focused on the moment. Obviously it would be great to be there and sit on it and hold the trophy. It will be my first 1000 title of the year. Yeah, but I think for me, you just can’t look too far ahead,” she added.

The World No. 6 also jokingly added that perhaps the trip to the Forbidden City might have been a good luck charm for both her and Alcaraz, a sentiment that might get confirmed come Sunday.

“We both made the final. We both went to the Forbidden City together. Somebody asked me in the beginning of the week if that would give us luck. So far it’s working. Hopefully I can follow in Carlos’ footsteps,” Coco Gauff said.

Meanwhile, Coco Gauff’s China Open final opponent Karolina Muchova has lavished praise on the American ahead of their clash, calling her a ‘moving wall’ who makes it incredibly difficult to hit winners past her.

The Czech, who trails 0-2 in the head-to-head against the former World No. 2, looked forward to a close battle on Sunday against a great athlete, but hoped to do her best regardless.

“She is such a great athlete. She can run left, right. She’s like a moving wall. It’s tough to hit some winners and make it shorter. That’s for sure a challenge. It’s very different here. Very different conditions to US Open and Cincinnati. I’ll try to take advantage of that,” Karolina Muchova said.

“Yeah, she’s, again, an amazing athlete, such a great player. It’s the finals, so I wouldn’t expect anything less than that. She’s just great,” she added.

Gauff is currently 7-1 in tour finals, with her only loss coming to Iga Swiatek against Iga Swiatek at the 2022 French Open.