Coco Gauff, spurred by doubters and disappointment, wins the US Open to complete summer turnaround

Four years ago, in 2019, Coco Gauff became the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history. The 15-year-old would beat seven-time major champion Venus Williams en route to the fourth round there. The hype train was on. The expectations started to rise. Impressive results would follow. Attention grew. But it came interlaced with question marks over her forehand technique and her defensive style. Add to it, there were comparisons with Serena Williams and lofty standards set by her. All England Club was also the site of disappointment this July: the teenager exited in the first round to 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin. In the aftermath, Gauff wouldn’t leave her hotel room for two days. She would order meals in and go over the setback. Her thoughts had already shifted to the off-season and 2024. Coco had mentally written off the entire hardcourt swing, including the US Open, that was to come. The loss was a jolt not just to the youngster. Her father Corey would also take off his credentials badge and replace himself on the coaching staff with Brad Gilbert. The legendary coach, who worked with Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, brought Pere Riba alongside.

Instead of throwing in the towel, Gauff soldiered on. The results were immediate. She would win the titles in Washington DC (WTA 500) and Cincinnati (WTA 1000) - the biggest of her career. In Cincinnati, she would clinch a pivotal first win over Iga Swiatek after seven defeats. Coming into the US Open, she suffered just one defeat - to doubles partner Jessica Pegula in Montreal. Two weeks later, Coco Gauff is the US Open champion . The 19-year-old is the first American teen to win a women’s singles Grand Slam title this century and first since Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open. Gauff has also taken her winning streak to a career-best 12 matches. As an aside, she and Pegula will become World No. 1 doubles team on Monday.

“Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” she said during the trophy ceremony. “Those who thought they were putting water on my fire were just adding gas to it.” “It’s been difficult,” Gauff said after the match. “I mean, it’s been a long journey to this point. I wasn’t a fully developed player, and I still think I have a lot of development to go at that moment. I think people were putting a lot of pressure on me to win. I felt that at 15 I had to win a slam at 15.

“I think that was, you know, not the mistake, because everything led to this moment so there was no mistakes. But that was, like, a little bit of the pressure that I was feeling. Now I just realise that I just need to go out there and try my best. “I mean, it was to the point where I remember I lost when I was 17 and there was a stat, they were like, Oh, she’s not going to win a slam before Serena’s age. It was stuff like that that I felt like I had a time limit on when I should win one, and if I won one after a certain age it wouldn’t be an achievement. It’s just crazy the amount of things that I have heard or seen about myself, but I’m really happy of how I’ve been able to manage it all.” An hour into the match, it looked like a second foray into a major title final would lead to a second disappointment. Aryna Sabalenka, who was 13-0 at major hardcourt matches in 2023, played the opening set like the World No 1 to be and dominated proceedings. The Belarusian would attack, dictate points and Gauff would be left to guess where she would go.

But Gauff had the mental fortitude of playing three setters this fortnight. She was pushed to deciding sets in three matches with two matches needing her to come from a set down. Gauff saved two break points in the opening game of the second set and got the vociferous crowd involved with a running backhand winner. That was arguably the moment Gauff would wrestle the match away from Sabalenka. As Gauff chased down more balls, 25-year-old Sabalenka tried to make her shots perfect which led to more errors than the first. “She was moving just unbelievable today,” said Sabalenka, who finished with 46 errors to Gauff’s 19. “The second set I start probably overthinking, and because of that I start kind of like losing my power. Then she started moving better. I start missing a lot of easy shots.”

Gauff would accumulate just 13 winners in the match but had enough offense in her tennis that it forced Sabalenka into mistakes. The American broke Sabalenka’s serve five times and showed no nerves in front of 23,000 fans (28,143 including ground pass ticket holders). In the third set, Gauff would pile up four straight games before Sabalenka would even get on the board. Aryna did get one break back but was far away from disrupting Coco’s rhythm and destiny. The winning moment was fitting: Gauff moved side-to-side, picked up a low ball on the forehand and then sprinted across to her left to strike a backhand winner down the line with Sabalenka hapless. “It doesn’t get more dramatic than that,” she said of her tumble to the ground in victory. [caption id=“attachment_13106592” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Coco Gauff gets emotional after winning the US Open. AP[/caption] “I was just trying to stay in the match,” Gauff said of how she managed her comeback. “I knew she was going to go out there swinging, and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to win this match the way I like to play. I don’t like to play the way that I played today. Running around the court, it’s fun, but, you know, it’s not as fun as hitting winners.” Over the past two weeks, Gauff has been a revelation on the court and off it. Chris Evert would tell her: “You make me want to be a better person.” The American teenager has been humble, politically aware, committed to her growth, thoughtful, and funny. She’s talked about her battles with imposter syndrome, self-esteem issues, environment protestors, about having Justin Bieber at one of her matches, and never once was cringeworthy. Speaking about giving herself due credit, she said: “I looked in the mirror, I was like, ‘No, you are a good player.’” About the climate protestors who caused a 45-minute delay , Gauff said, “I always speak about preaching what you feel and what you believe in. It was done in a peaceful way, so I can’t get too mad about it.” About holding any regrets, she said, “I wouldn’t say ‘missed opportunities,’ because tennis is learning,” she said. “Maybe those mistakes are the mistakes I needed to make to help me improve in the future.” But she also found time to have a pop at Frances Tiafoe and his outfit. “You’re wearing confetti!” she told her countryman. “Carlos (Alcaraz) looks better." If the run in 2019 brought pressure on Gauff, there will be higher expectations now. When’s the next one? When is she going to be the World No 1? It is worth reminding: Two of the previous four US Open women’s champions were teens at the time, Bianca Andreescu (2019) and Emma Raducanu (2021), and neither has come close to replicating that success yet.