American tennis has topped a brand new queen and US Open champion as Coco Gauff beat Aryna Sabalenka within the Flushing Meadows closing to assert her first grand slam title and ascend the throne left vacant by Serena Williams.
The first teenager to play in a US Open closing since Serena in 2001 there was symmetry to the second as Gauff rallied to beat the second seeded Belarusian 2-6 6-3 6-2 and finish a six-year barren stretch for American tennis followers.
“I am so happy I could make this country proud,” Gauff stated.
American girls have been on the rise in recent times shifting into the highest 10 and profitable tournaments however since Serena Williams performed her final match on Arthur Ashe in 2022 the US has been with no commonplace bearer – till now.
Gauff, who as a younger woman dreamed of changing into the following Serena, is now simply that – the undisputed face of US tennis with many predicting she will be able to turn out to be the world’s top-ranked participant with a trophy cupboard full of grand slam titles.
“Congratulations to US Open champion, @CocoGauff! We couldn’t be prouder of you on and off the court – and we know the best is yet to come,” former US president Barack Obama posted on social media.
Still simply 19-years-old, Gauff has matured beneath an unforgiving sporting highlight.
The completed product was on show on Saturday as she defused Sabalenka’s energy with velocity and tenacity earlier than acknowledging her success with grace.
“That little girl, she had the dream – but I don’t know if she fully believed it,” Gauff stated.
“As you get older sometimes it can fiddle away. I would tell her, ‘Don’t lose that dream’.”
Immediately after her win, Gauff’s first response after lifting herself off the court docket and wiping away tears of pleasure was to look the stands for her mother and father, who used to carry her to New York as a younger woman to look at her idols on the identical court docket.
The US Open this 12 months celebrated Billie Jean King and the fiftieth anniversary of the combat for equal pay, with Gauff playfully acknowledging the wrestle when accepting the trophy.
“Thank you Billie Jean for fighting for this,” stated Gauff waving a $US3 million ($A4.7 million) winner’s cheque.
Gauff has lengthy been tipped for greatness.
A prime junior she burst onto the world scene as a 15-year-old, beating one other of her idols Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2019.
Last 12 months she made her grand slam breakthrough, reaching the ultimate of the French Open however shedding. At this 12 months’s Wimbledon she hit a bump with a primary spherical loss that left her feeling the dream had ended.
Since that Wimbledon loss Gauff has received 18 of 19 matches and received the US Open, Cincinnati Open and Washington.
“Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” she instructed a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.
“A month ago, I won a 500 (level) title and people said I would stop at that.
“Two weeks in the past, I received a 1000 title and other people had been saying that was the largest it was going to get … (however) I’m right here with this trophy proper now.
“To those who thought they were putting water on my fire you were really adding gas to it and now I am burning so bright.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
