Coco Gauff is a Grand Slam champion.
The rising American tennis star authored a stunning comeback win over Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open women’s singles final Saturday in New York.
Gauff, the tournament’s No. 6 seed and world’s 10th-ranked women’s player, defeated No. 2 Sabalenka—the incoming world No. 1—by a score of 2–6, 6–3, 6–2 to record her first major title in front of a raucous crowd at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Queens.
Immediately after securing the match-winning point, the 19-year-old Gauff fell to the ground while overcome by emotion. Gauff’s title win now makes her the youngest American, man or woman, to win the U.S. Open since her hero, Serena Williams, in 1999.
Additionally, Gauff is now the first American to win the U.S. Open since Sloane Stephens in 2017.
WHAT A MOMENT FOR COCO GAUFF#USOPEN CHAMPION 🏆
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) September 9, 2023
(via @usopen)pic.twitter.com/FAJlgbMUYj
Saturday’s triumph marked the second career Grand Slam final for Gauff, who lost in the 2022 French Open final as a No. 18 seed.
With the phenom’s biggest win, to date, now in the books, Gauff, the 11th teenager ever to win a Grand Slam singles title, will now look to finish her year strong after improving her 2023 record in Grand Slams to 14–3.
