19-year-old Coco Gauff has won her first Grand Slam tournament at the U.S. Open, becoming the first American teenager to win the U.S Open since Serena Williams won the tournament in 1999.
She beat out Belarusian tennis star, Aryna Sabalenka, the 25-year-old winner of the Australian Open singles final earlier this year, at Saturday’s final in New York, scoring 2-6, 6-3 and 6-2.
Coco Gauff is the first American woman to win the U.S. Open in six years. She credited the William sisters as her inspiration.
“They’re the reason why I have this trophy today. They’ve allowed me to believe in this dream. Growing up, there weren’t too many black tennis players dominating the sport. It was just them at the time that I can remember, & obviously more came bc of their legacy. It made the dream more believable. All the things they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this. You look back at the history of Indian Wells with Serena, all she had to go through. Venus, fighting for equal pay. It’s crazy & it’s an honor to be in that same lineup as them.”
The 19-year-old made her way to the final after defeating Czech player Karolina Muchova, 27, on Thursday in a match delayed for nearly an hour by environmental protesters. Gauff acknowledged them in an interview later, saying she believes in climate change and “can’t really get upset” about the demonstration during her match.
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