Coco Gauff of Delray Beach, Florida is a grand slam champion for the first time. On Saturday, as the sixth seed, the 19-year-old American defeated current world number one Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the final, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Gauff broke Sabalenka five times in the match, and dominated the deciding set, as she won six of eight games. The other key statistic was unforced errors. Gauff had only 19 compared to 46 for Sabalenka.
It was definitely an eventful grand slam tournament for Gauff. She also beat Laura Siegemund of Germany 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round, Russian teenage phenom Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-2 in the second round, 2018 Australian Open semifinalist and 32nd seed Elise Mertens of Belgium 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 in the third round, 2018 Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in the fourth round, 2017 French Open champion and 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-0, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and the 10th seed, and 2023 French Open finalist, Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals.
Gauff is now the 10th teenager to win the United States Open. She follows Tracy Austin of Palos Verdes Peninsula, California (1979 and 1981), Steffi Graf of Mannheim, Germany (1988), Monica Seles of Novi Sad, Serbia (1991 and 1992), Martina Hingis of Feusisberg, Switzerland (1997), Serena Williams of Saginaw, Michigan (1999), Svetlana Kuznetsova of Leningrad, Russia (2004), Maria Sharapova of Nyagan, Russia (2006), Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (2019), and Emma Raducanu of London, England (2021).
This was Gauff’s second grand slam final. She previously lost 6-1, 6-3 to Iga Swiatek of Poland in the 2022 French Open final. This was Gauff’s fourth win in 2023. She also won the Auckland Open, Washington Open, and Cincinnati Open.
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