Coco Gauff has become the third American teenager in history to win the women’s US Open title after staging a triumphant comeback against Aryna Sabalenka in a roller-coaster final.
The 19-year-old struggled with nerves and some powerful play from her opponent early on before fighting back to prevail 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, and win the biggest title of her career. It is the first time in Gauff’s career that she has beaten a top-10 player in a major after dropping the opener. She has now won 12 matches in a row on the Tour which is her longest-ever streak.
In what was a tense encounter at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, one of the most significant features of the match was Sabalenka’s erratic play. The Belarussian produced some blistering hitting but struggled with her consistency which is best illustrated by her winner-unforced error ratio of 25-46. Meanwhile, Gauff gradually weathered the storm en route to her fourth victory over Sabalenka in six meetings.
“I just knew that if I didn’t give it my all, then I would have no shot at winning,” the new champion said during her on-court interview.
“Aryna is an incredible, incredible player. Congratulations on the No.1 ranking. It’s well-deserved. I always tell my team all the time that you’re a real nice person behind the scenes and the the competitiveness and that fire that you bring is what makes sports better.”
From the early stages of the match, it was evident that Sabalenka planned to dictate play with the use of some thunderous hitting. Although this all-or-nothing approach by the second seed produced some erratic tennis as she hit 14 unforced errors compared to eight winners during the opening set.
Sabalenka first drew blood in the opening game when she broke Gauff by firing a backhand winner. However, she squandered that lead just two games later with an error-stricken performance that allowed her opponent back into the match. Despite that blip and some inspiring defensive play from Gauff, she closed out the opener with relative ease with the help of a Gauff forehand shot into the net on set point.
Since 2000, only one player had won a women’s US Open final after dropping the opener, which was Naomi Osaka in 2020. However, Gauff refused to back down. After saving break points at the start of the second frame, she capitalized on some patchy play coming from across the court to move to a 5-2 lead. Triggering an almighty cheer from a highly animated crowd. Sabalenka struggled at times with her footwork on the court, as well as dealing with slower balls. Best illustrated by a wild forehand from the soon-to-be world No.1 that gifted Gauff the second set.
As Sabalenka continued to misfire on the court, Gauff surged through the decider without showing any signs of emotion. Nudging to two games from victory at 4-1, proceedings were briefly halted after Sabalenka requested a medical timeout for treatment on her left leg.
When play resumed yet another twist occurred with Gauff losing one of her break advantages but it didn’t derail her from the milestone victory. On her first championship point, she prevailed with a winning shot down the line. Prompting her to finally let out some emotion as she dropped to the ground in sheer relief.
“Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me,” said Gauff. “A month ago, I won a 500 title, people were saying I would stop at that. Two weeks ago I won a Masters title, and people said that was as big as it was going to get.’
“Three weeks later I’m here with this trophy now. To those who thought they were putting water on my fire, they were adding gas to it. Now I’m burning so bright now.”
As for Sabalenka, the loss is a bitter pill to swallow. Since winning the Australian Open, she has been beaten in two Grand Slam semi-finals and the US Open final after claiming the first set. She was bidding to become the first singles player from her country to win the New York title.
“I felt the love through the couple of weeks,” a tearful Sabalenka said. “I wanted to say congrats to Coco, you were unbelievable and deserve this title. I hope we play many more titles but with a different result!’
“My family are awake and watching so want to send them my love – sorry for this result! Thank you to my team, thank you guys.”
Gauff is the first American teenager to win a major title this century and the first to do so since Serena Williams at the 1999 US Open. As a result of the win, she will rise to No.3 in the WTA rankings on Monday behind Iga Swiatek and Sabalenka.
