American teenager Coco Gauff beat Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2 in the U.S. Open women’s final on Saturday to claim her first Grand Slam title. With the win, sixth seed Gauff became the first American to win a U.S. Open title since Sloane Stephens in 2017. The Associated Press has the story:
Coco Gauff, 19, wins US Open for her first Grand Slam title
Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP)
Coco Gauff set aside a so-so start and surged to her first Grand Slam title at age 19, coming back to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the U.S. Open final on Saturday to the delight of a raucous crowd that was loud from start to finish.
Gauff, who is from Florida, is the first American teenager to win the country’s major tennis tournament since Serena Williams in 1999. If last year’s U.S. Open was all about saying goodbye to Williams as she competed for the final time, this year’s two weeks in New York turned into a “Welcome to the big time!” for Gauff.
This is the sort of triumph that had — fairly or not — been expected of Gauff ever since she burst onto the scene at 15 by becoming the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history and making it to the fourth round in her Grand Slam debut in 2019.
Factbox on Coco Gauff of the United States, who defeated Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2 to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open on Saturday.
Age: 19
Nation: United States
WTA ranking: 6 (Highest ranking: 4)
Seeding: 6
Grand Slam titles: 1 (U.S. Open 2023)
ROAD TO FINAL
First round: Laura Siegemund (Germany) 3-6 6-2 6-4
Second round: Mirra Andreeva (Russia) 6-3 6-2
Third round: 32-Elise Mertens (Belgium) 3-6 6-3 6-0
Fourth round: Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) 6-3 3-6 6-1
Quarter-finals: 20-Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) 6-0 6-2
Semi-finals: 10-Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic) 6-4 7-5
EARLY LIFE
* Started playing tennis aged six. Growing up, her tennis idols were Serena and Venus Williams.
CAREER TO DATE
* A former world number one junior, Gauff started her professional career on the ITF circuit in 2018.
* Won her maiden WTA singles title in 2019 at Linz and came to prominence when she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon as a qualifier, where she was beaten by eventual champion Simona Halep. Also won two doubles titles with Caty McNally.
Reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in 2020 and cracked the top 50 in the world for the first time.
* Won her second WTA singles title at Parma in 2021 and reached the quarter-finals of the French Open, where she lost to eventual winner Barbora Krejcikova. Gauff also reached the U.S. Open women’s doubles final with McNally.
* Lost to Iga Swiatek in the French Open final in 2022. Finished runners-up in the women’s doubles final at the same tournament alongside Jessica Pegula.
* Gauff claimed the biggest title to date of her career at the Cincinnati Open in 2023. Also won in Washington D.C. in the build-up to the U.S. Open.
* Beat Sabalenka to become the first American woman to win the U.S. Open since Sloane Stephens in 2017.
