The ruthless Gauff beat Muchova in straight sets to win the China Open

The 20-year-old American and last year’s US Open champion stormed to victory in Beijing 6-1, 6-3 in one hour and 16 minutes.

After a disappointing few months by her standards, including surrendering her New York crown in the last 16, Gauff adds the China Open to her triumph in Auckland in January.

Sixth-ranked Gauff, under a new coaching team in the Chinese capital after splitting with Brad Gilbert last month, wiped away tears at the end.

It turned out to be one match too far for Muchova, who at the age of 49 was the lowest-ranked finalist in the history of the prestigious WTA 1000 tournament.

Gauff made a fast start, breaking the Czech for a 2-0 lead in the first set and then holding her own serve without conceding a point.

The young American was already leading 3-0 with barely ten minutes on the clock.

The 28-year-old Muchova sent an ace to get on the board, but Gauff was in the mood and her serve – her biggest problem of late – was shooting.

Gauff had three break points in the sixth game and turned the first streak into a 5-1 lead against a shocked Muchova.

Gauff rattled off her third ace of the match, giving her two set points.

Her serving swings returned briefly, but she wrapped up the first set in 29 minutes on her third set point.

Muchova, chasing only the second title of her career, disposed of top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals before beating Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.

Last year’s French Open finalist found her feet early in the second set and broke for a 2-0 lead, but Gauff immediately broke back en route to a comfortable win.