Since Serena Williams in 1999, Gauff, a Florida native, became the first American youngster to triumph at the nation's premier tennis event.
To the joy of a boisterous crowd that was loud from the beginning to the end, Coco Gauff overcame a mediocre start and raced to her first Grand Slam win at the age of 19. She came back to overcome Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the U.S. Open final on Saturday.
Since Serena Williams in 1999, Gauff, a Florida native, became the first American youngster to triumph at the nation's premier tennis event. This year's two weeks in New York served as Gauff's "Welcome to the big time!" after last year's U.S. Open was all about bidding goodbye to Williams as she competed for the final time.
This is the kind of victory that Gauff had been expecting to achieve ever since she made history in 2019 by qualifying for Wimbledon at the age of 15 and making it to the fourth round of her first Grand Slam tournament.
She lost in the second round of the French Open, her first major final, and has already won the biggest title of her young career. Gauff won her 19th match overall and her 12th straight since losing in the first round at the All England Club in July.
The sixth-seeded Gauff achieved this on Saturday by enduring Sabalenka's strength on almost every swing of her racket, ultimately adapting to it, and successfully returning shot after shot. On just one of these points, Gauff broke to start the third set. She tracked down every ball sent her way before hitting a putaway volley that she accented with a fist pump and a shout of "Come on!"
You succeeded. Both sobbing, Gauff's mother told her.
Sabalenka had a 23-2 record in major competitions in 2023 going into the day, including her maiden Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open in January. The 25-year-old Belarussian was already certain that she would become the first person to move from No. 2 to No. 1 in the WTA rankings the following week.
But her fans relegated her to the position of antagonist. Gauff, who played in front of a crowd of 23,000 people at Arthur Ashe Stadium, received by far the most support, as is customary when an American plays in America. Her pre-match TV interview, which was being broadcast on the arena's television screens, was overshadowed by the yells and applause echoing off the retractable roof.
Gauff's victories were celebrated as if the game were finished even in the early going. Sabalenka's errors were also. Six errors, including six double-faults, three of which occurred in only her first two service games. She also committed a number of other errors, including an over-the-shoulder backhand, in the second set.
At the finish, Sabalenka had committed 46 unintentional errors, more than double Gauff's tally of just 19.
Another way to look at it is that Gauff only needed to produce 13 victories on Saturday in order to score 83 points.
Regardless of the situation, playing surface, or stakes, Sabalenka started the match by smashing shots as hard as she could and punctuating them with loud exhales.
That does not imply that it is her only option. When Gauff hit a lob that Sabalenka chased down with her back to the net and, whirling around, returned with a different lob for a winner, it was clear to see that on one specific second-set point.
Even someone as quick, astute, and as instinctive as Gauff, whose get-to-every-ball court coverage manages to keep her in points few other players would be able to prolong, finds it tough to handle Sabalenka's strength when everything is tuned just perfectly.
Sabalenka certainly misses the mark when she does. She made a lot of mistakes Saturday, either slapping her thigh or looking at her entourage while mumbling or shaking her head.
Due to their different playing styles and the combination of Sabalenka's excellent offence and Gauff's fantastic defence, neither player was able to hit all the proper notes at the beginning of the game.
They exchanged early breaks to tie the match at 2, but Sabalenka won the next four games to win the set. There was a fantastic moment throughout the section that had the audience cheering before it ended. Gauff struggled mightily to keep Sabalenka's shots over the net, successfully diverting one thunderous overhead while on the move before a second, unachievable overhead went off the court and into the spectators.
Sabalenka motioned for the spectators to show her some love by raising her left hand and waving her fingers.
Gauff began to play better, Sabalenka started to miss more shots, and eventually only one of them remained the sport's newest Grand Slam champion.
