US Open Women’s Final: Coco Gauff defeats Arya Sabalenka

Queens, New York
CNN
—

Coco Gauff, ranked tenth in the world in women’s singles, defeated Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a thrilling comeback in the US Open women’s final.

The star-studded crowd exploded in applause after Gauff’s home run at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens. The win is the first major title for the 19-year-old Gauff of her career, and also makes her the first American teenager to win the US Open since then. 23-time Grand Champion Serena Williams He won the title in 1999.

“I feel like I’m in shock at this moment,” said an emotional Goff after her win. “God puts you through trials and trials, and that makes this moment sweeter than I could have imagined.”

She thanked her family, her team and “the people who didn’t believe in me”.

In pursuit of her second major title of the year, Sabalenka, soon to be the women’s world No. 1, made quick work of the first set, breaking Gauff three times to win 6-2 in dominant fashion.

However, with the packed crowd chanting “Let’s go Coco”, Gauff raised her game in the second set, taking the lead in the second game before eventually taking a 6-3 lead to force a third set decider.

Gauff dominated the third set and broke her serve twice, moving closer to her first Grand Slam title. Although Sabalenka won the next two matches, Gauff finished the match to become the twelfth teenager in US Open history to win the title.

“I don’t know, I just knew that if I didn’t give it my all, I wouldn’t have any chance of winning,” Gauff said about how she found the strength to get back up after losing the first set.

On her run to the final, she lost the first set twice, once in the first round against Laura Siegmund and again in the third round against Elise Mertens.

With this win, Gauff became the third American teenager to win the US Open title, after Williams and Tracy Austin. She is poised to move up to No. 3 in the WTA singles rankings, and No. 2. 1 in the doubles with compatriot Jessica Pegula.

After winning, Gauff collapsed to the floor before rising to hug Sabalenka. After that, Jove was overcome with emotion and knelt down to enjoy the moment.

Gauff mocked her father after the match and thanked her family. “First of all, thanks to my father,” she said. “Today was the first time I saw my dad cry. He doesn’t want me to tell you all about it, but he caught it in 4K!

Meanwhile, despite the loss, the Belarusian star will move up to No. 1 in the WTA singles rankings on Monday, ending Iga Švetek’s 75-straight week reign.

Sabinka congratulated her opponent, saying, “I hope we play in more finals,” and described Gauff as “amazing.”

In turn, she congratulated the American Sabinka on her rise to first place. “Arina is a great player,” she said. “Congratulations on No. First place, well deserved.”

In a press conference after the match, Sabalenka said that the loss was a “lesson” for her and that she began “overthinking” during the second set.

“Me against me,” she said. Goff “was really moving and defending better than anyone else.”

She added: “I was playing against the audience.”

Gauff’s first major championship

The last time Gauff and Sabalenka met was in the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells tournament last March, and the Belarusian easily won 6-4 and 6-0. But Saturday’s final was very different, with Gauff’s form improving rapidly in the six months since that defeat.

The 19-year-old has won three WTA titles this season, including the The biggest of her career is in Cincinnati Just before the US Open, she won 17 of her last 18 matches. She is the youngest American woman to reach a US Open final since 17-year-old Serena Williams did so in 1999.

“Serena is Serena. She’s the GOAT. I hope she does half what she did,” Gauff said, according to the WTA.

The contest was the second Grand Slam final of Gauff’s career after reaching the final of the French Open in 2022, where she was quickly defeated by Iga Świątek.

But after her 6-4, 7-5 semi-final win over Karolina Mutova, Gauff spoke of the improvement in her mentality, as she went from being someone with imposter syndrome to now believing she can compete with the best players in the world.

“I think it is [imposter syndrome] “It’s still a part of me,” she said. “It’s definitely something I do better. Even after [winning Washington] DC, I was still like, “Okay, I beat up on some good people, but maybe I could catch up with them on my days off.”

“That’s definitely still a part of me, but I think I give myself more credit and speaking things out into existence is real. I’ve been trying to talk more positively about myself and actually tell myself that I’m a great player.

The sixth seed told reporters that after losing in the first round at Wimbledon she was “preparing for next year”, before adding that she was “really proud of myself” for the way she performed at Flushing Meadows.

“I’ve been more focused on myself and my expectations of myself,” Gove told Reuters. “I truly believe that now I have the maturity and ability to do this.”

Even her Semi-final against Madison KeysSabalenka was dominant in New York, never dropping a set and never dropping more than five matches in a match.

However, she was pressured hard by the American on Thursday and had to recover from a brutal 6-0 loss in the first set, to eventually win 0-6 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (10-5). After two and a half hours of tough tennis.

Such was the prospect of Keys winning late in the second set that Gauff was asked about the prospect of facing the American compatriot in her post-match press conference.

Sabalenka’s run to the US Open final marks the end of a stellar year in which she won three titles – including her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and her sixth title at the Masters 1000 in Madrid.

Despite her victory the last time they met, Sabalenka praised Gauff’s development this season and said she is a “much better” player now than she was six months ago.

“I’ve improved a lot,” Sabalenka told reporters after qualifying for the semi-finals. “So he’s a different player, we don’t really like to think about that match.

“Going into this final, I think I have to focus on myself and prepare myself for another fight. No matter what, just keep fighting, keep giving my best and do my best.

“You know, there’s not much you can do, what else can you do? You just have to be there and you have to fight for it.

Sabalenka will undoubtedly play in front of a large crowd in the final next Saturday, but having already overcome the tense atmosphere against Keys on Thursday, she said she feels confident to handle the occasion.

“Of course, I would [to] You have someone else or [the] The crowd is more or less the same for both players, but today’s game I think will help me in the final because I’ll be fine with that support. I’ll be fine, she said.

“I still hope some of them will support me, if only a little bit. Just sometimes, please. Please,” I laughed.