Coco Gauff is well on her way to becoming one of tennis’ greatest players after the American teenager beat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2 to clinch her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.
It is the first victory for an American teenager since Serena Williams’ triumphant win at Flushing Meadows in 1999.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka will be the new world No. 1 after a notable year in which she claimed conquest at the Australian Open and made it to the semi-finals at the French Open and at Wimbledon.
However, that will be meager solace for the 25-year-old from Belarus after putting herself in a situation to clinch her second Grand Slam title after folding as Gauff won her first, stirring an excited crowd with a remarkable victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Shine My Crown has been following Gauff’s rise in the tournament for quite some time now. On Monday, we reported about the 19-year-old, who is slowly rising to become one of the greatest tennis players of her time after winning a remarkable comeback from Caroline Wozniacki, 33.
Gauff completed an extraordinary 6-3 3-6 6-1, making it to the last eight for the second year in a row.
The American tennis player will now face whoever wins the matchup between Jelena Ostapenko and Iga Swiatek in the last eight scheduled for Tuesday.
“Caroline [Wozniacki] is back and it looks like she never left, the level that she played today is amazing and she’s being an inspiration for me,” Gauff told Sky Sports. I remember when I saw her win the Australian Open, to play with her is an honor.”
She continued: “She gets to a lot of balls, and I felt like I was playing myself, getting that one extra ball back. I’m happy I was able to get back the focus. You have to be mentally tough, she’s not going to back down,” adding that “Sometimes I do tell them [the box] to chill a bit, because I like to think through matches my own way… My dad isn’t in the box anymore because he gets too nervous! He’s in a suite somewhere and doing laps around the stadium.”
