Nineteen-year-old American Coco Gauff won her first major singles championship with a 2-6 6-3 6-2 victory over soon-to-be No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in the highest-attended women’s singles final in US Open history (28,143).
A video of a lively eight-year-old Gauff dancing on Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2012 circulates on social media. Eleven years later, the American teenager stood on the same stadium, this time on the court, raising a Grand Slam trophy and fulfilling a long-held dream.
8 year old Coco Gauff is dancing right now.
This adorable little girl grew up to become a US Open Champion. 🥹
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) September 9, 2023
The Delray Beach, Fla., native is the third American teenager to win the US Open women’s singles title, joining Serena Williams (1999) and Tracy Austin (1979, ’81). She’s also the 12th teenage US Open women’s singles champion in the Open Era (since 1968) and the fifth since 2000.
Gauff has now won all her four finals of 2023, all on hard courts: Cincinnati, Washington DC, Auckland, and now the US Open. Moreover, she’s extended her career-best winning streak to 12 matches.
Gauff will become the top-ranked American woman in singles on Monday at No.3 in the world and will also share the world No.1 doubles ranking with Jessica Pegula.
The young champion sported a memorable outfit in New York: a red variation of her New Balance crop top and skirt set, complemented by her signature Coco CG1 tennis shoes in a brick-red and neon yellow color scheme. Her main weapon was the Head Boom MP tennis racquet.
