American Teenager Landed The Biggest Win Of Her Career.
US OPEN: Coco Gauff won her maiden Grand Slam title.
American teenager Coco Gauff came from behind to win the US Open on Saturday, clinching her first Grand Slam title with a battling win over Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Gauff, 19, produced a gutsy performance on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 2hr 6 min to complete a fairytale transformation in her season's fortunes. The sixth seed from Florida had gone into the final as the underdog against the hard-hitting second seed Sabalenka, who will become World No. 1 in next week's rankings. But with both players making a slew of mistakes throughout an error-strewn final watched by a record crowd of 28,143 it was Gauff who held her nerve when it mattered to seal a deserved Victory.
The win completed a remarkable turnaround for Gauff, who was left distraught after a first round exit at Wimbledon in July. However she bounced back to win titles in Washington and Cincinnati and has now landed the biggest win of her career, after a shattering loss at the French Open last year. "It means so much to me, " an elated Gauff said afterwards. "I feel like I am a little bit in shock in this moment. " That French Open loss last year was a heartbreak for me. That makes this moment even sweeter than I could imagine". Gauff was in trouble in the opening game, Sabalenka breaking her straight away with a rasping backhand that drew a roar of "Come On! " From the Belarusian.
She held easily to take a 2-0 lead but Gauff then took advantage of a shaky service game from Sabalenka to break at 2-2 in the fourth. The Belarusian double-faulted twice to allow Gauff to get back on level terms. But that hard-won parity was surrendered in the next game as Sabalenka broke back to go 3-2 ahead. Sabalenka then wobbled on her own serve once more as Gauff eked out two break points in the sixth game. But Sabalenka got it back to deuce with an ace and then took a 4-2 lead with an emphatic smash. Gauff's problems on serve continued and Sabalenka broke for the third time to race 5-2 ahead, and she duly wrapped up the set by holding in the next game. Yet with the match threatening to become a rout, Gauff finally clicked into gear in the second set, making fewer unforced errors and ironing out the kinks in her serve.
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