Chanda Rubin on Gauff's Big Win, Sabalenka as Year-End No. 1 and The WTA Finals | Inside-In Podcast

Chanda Rubin returns to the show to recap all the action taking place at the WTA Finals, as the Top 8 women in the game battle it out in the final event of the season. Rubin discusses Aryna Sabalenka clinching the year-end No. 1 Ranking, and explains why Coco Gauff's big win over Iga Swiatek could do wonders for her confidence going forward.
The play-by-play broadcaster all discusses Qinwen Zheng's growth, Elena Rybakina's form in her return to the court, and why she appreciates the way that Barbora Krejcikova plays. And Rubin also shares her thoughts on the Alexander Zverev winning the Paris Masters, and Novak Djokovic deciding not to compete in the ATP Finals. Hosted by Mitch Michals

[@Lederius18]

Coco was in the top 5 being 50% developed and relying on athleticism to win a lot of matches and it worked. Now you’re seeing that development coupled with athleticism and she’s going to be hard to beat by most players. She’s special. Dare I say she will dominate over the next few years.

[@Leomerya12]

Serena was largely the same way (just better) until she started working with Patrick. He made her forehand an unbelievably relable shot.

[@KingCast65]

IDK about dominate but she is going to wail. And wail very effectively to be at least even with the other top 3's. Yessir. Even money Sasha never nabs a Slam.

[@seensay2132]

The fact most surfaces are playing slower now than 20 yrs ago will definitely play into Coco’s hands. She’s coming for Iga’s French Open throne and maybe Aryna’s Aussie Open title if she can open the 2025 season with this form.

[@Raydogs]

A little early and presumptuous considering her lack of consistency this year. rybakina will be a force next year and zheng will be better with more experience. Zheng's pattern has been to lose the first few times in the big moment and then do better upon the second or third time. Remember zheng kind of came from no where this year so she just needs experience and is 1 to 2 years behind Coco. Yes Coco won, but play that match 10 times and it's 50/50 - hard to see zheng blowing that many match points with more experience. Rybakina even without playing for two months can beat sabalenka. Sabalenka is a toss up and lose cannon with no discipline. She'd do better if she didn't feel like she had to crush the ball every time. Navarro and shnaider will be even better next year. Bottomline except for Igas recent run at #1, wta has not been consistent. Sabalenka was also gifted number 1 because iga chose not to play.

[@marcusgraham5084]

@@Raydogs Brad Gilbert is out of the picture and now Tim Daly has replaced him. Because of the work he put in (and still putting in) with Coco, helping to improve her forehand grip and service game; hence her victory at this tournament. I mean, Coco didn't play her best throughout this tournament and she still won. That's both scary and frustrating for her opponents; because coupled with her athletism, can still do damage. Plus she a fighter to the bitter end. Before she didn't have a forehand; and now, thanks to her new coach; she now has one, that's will continue to get more and more potent. We are witnessing the true Coco Gauff. One that is freer and more in control of her tennis. Whereas before, coaches like Brad (although, he helped her win a 500, a 1000 and then the US OPEN slam last year) and others before, didn't really help to address her forehand grip and service game. All they did was give her too much gaming strategy to process and now allowing her to problem solve on her own. By not allowing this, she was put in a bind where her athletism is taken away from her. Now with Tim Daly, we are seeing Coco is freer. Coco's game is strategically simple, and with that; Coco is now able to truly develop at a rapid and constant pace. We are witnessing the true Coco Gauff. This is COCO GAUFF 2.0. Rybakyna and others won't stand a chance come 2025. You saw what Coco did to Iga, Sabalenka and Quinwen. But especially Sabalenka. It was a flashback of what happened last year at the US OPEN FINAL last year. Rybakyna might experience that. Total implosion. Plus once Coco can master playing on all surfaces, she'll be devastating.

[@leahneal6981]

Love Chanda commentary focused and fair she is sorely needed

[@ohaggie]

Let’s go COCO!! 😀🎾

[@samsanyang9252]

Chanda more of this Panel discussion with her ❤😊 love it

[@victoriaallen1635]

Yay Chanda!! I appreciate your commentary and insight and humor❤

[@undib5935]

Chanda, My favorite commentator….❤️🎾🇺🇸

[@JacqualynColeman]

She's not because you can't enjoy the match because she's talking the whole time

[@jeffreyedwards4443]

​@JacqualynColeman I need Chanda to keep talking (and she doesn't during the rallies) to educate us tennis novices. Keep it up, Chanda.

[@mreclectic700]

25:39 words to the wise!

[@mreclectic700]

Chanda ♒

[@ButterNutt-el4kk]

Honestly speaking you could have just acknowledged CoCo has made significant improvements and Barbora was a strategic loss. Yes the h2h is 2-0 but we all know Barbora is no challenge for the CoCo version that won the title today! You made these excuses for Iga like CoCo didn’t recently change coaches too! Rusty is an excuse. The professionals job is to train and conditioning to always be ready for every tournament entered. Just give CoCo her flowers and keep it moving.

[@KingCast65]

Barbora was cracking shit out of this World. I'm not going with you on this one.

[@ButterNutt-el4kk]

@ I respect that but she is the most inconsistent in the top 10. She has good matches but most times she cannot string together 2 weeks of consistent excellence. I have watched her in the past leading up to the GS that she has won. She is up and down consistently!

[@marcusgraham5084]

Thanks to Tim Daly, Bardosa and the others will have to deal with COCO GAUFF 2.0 from here on in🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@Raydogs]

Honestly ir Coco could beat barbora then she would have. The results are what they are. Coco can win the wta and still have plenty of faults. Hard for people to see that. Every dog has their day

[@KingCast65]

@@Raydogs Absolutely. She did not tank that match she got outplayed, narrowly. But haters gonna hate can't change that.

[@nathaliethomas9719]

Can someone please clarify why Grand slam winners should get WTA points as the Grand Slams are not a part of WTA. Most players garner # 1 status based on grand slams. Wozniacki was a bona fide WTA # 1 for years before she won a grand slam and she got so much bad press for it.

[@Lederius18]

Every tournament including slams is allotted a certain amount of points that players receive depending how far they go in the tournament. Slams are 2k points so the biggest prize but other tournaments are importantly to build that core points base. So a player can get to number 1 by being consistent year around even if they don’t win a slam. ie Coco who is the most consistent player on tour even though she didn’t win a slam this year.

[@irie2jones]

Regarding Coco's big win, it was followed by a loss to Barbora, which showed that there is still a lot of work ahead of Coco. Iga was rusty and playing poorly and wasn't able to convert the breakpoints she was gifted by Coco.

[@trommelbiel]

Looks like fatigue. I don't think there is anything Barbora can throw at Coco that she wouldn't be able to handle.

[@ohaggie]

I’m not sure that was a loss that Coco cared about too much because by losing, Iga was eliminated. Her win today over Sabalenka even looked so easy. So, against Barbora, I don’t think Coco has too much to worry about in the future even though Coco lost to Barbora here at the WTA Finals. I love Barbora as a player though. She isn’t as consistent as the other top players but she is a 2-time Grand Slam champion.

[@Raydogs]

​@@trommelbielsure whatever you want to say. She still lost. So the result is that matters. We don't have to guess. Coco lost that one. But that is the wta. One day awesome, one day adud

[@marcusgraham5084]

@@Raydogs Coco will destroy her 2025 and beyond. Mark my words. That loss was strategic. Coco's tournament victory against Quinwen proves that. This is COCO GAUFF 2.0. Whenever they meet again, Coco will make her implode like Sabalenka.

[@Raydogs]

@@marcusgraham5084 sure, Coco gave it her all today and zheng choked. More like zheng destroys Coco next time. Mark my words!

[@JacqualynColeman]

I would like to know, can you stop talking through the entire match? We cannot enjoy it because you talk the entire time, please.

[@jeffreyedwards4443]

I need Chanda to keep talking (and she doesn't during the rallies) to educate us tennis novices. Great unbiased job, Chanda!

[@jeffreyedwards4443]

I need Chanda to keep talking (and she doesn't during the rallies) to educate us tennis novices. Great job, Chanda!

[@mreclectic700]

@@JacqualynColeman I agree 1000% but nobody does it more than Brett & Jim ( oh my goodness ) it is so annoying 😄 especially when it has nothing to do with the match