Coco Gauff holds the title as this year’s Women’s US Open Champion for her first Grand Slam title at age 19.
Beginning at the end of August, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City hosted the multi-week tournament.
After taking on various competitors like Karolína Muchová, Jeļena Ostapenko and Caroline Wozniacki, Guaff made her way to the finals on Sept. 9, where she faced the soon-to-be-No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Prior to the game, AP reports the teenager was “unsurprisingly” scrolling through social media until the final minutes before heading out to the court.
‘She would say later, there were various comments, negative ones, ‘saying I wasn’t going to win today; that just put the fire in me,’” AP News said.
Outside the locker room, Guaff was greeted by 22,000 spectators that filled the stands of Arthur Ashe Stadium. AP News said they “backed her from start to finish.”
In addition to viewers in the stadium, which included former president Barack Obama, millions watched at home.
“Gauff’s win delivered 3.4 million viewers on ESPN, up +92% vs last year’s Women’s Championship, making it the most-viewed Major Women’s Championship ever,” ESPN said.
Following a so-so start to the match, fans began to see the fire Guaff mentioned. She began gaining momentum, which propelled her to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory against Sabalenka.
“I feel a little bit in shock at this moment,” Gauff said in an interview directly after her win. “That French Open loss was a heartbreak for me, but I realized, you know, God puts you through tribulations and trials. And that makes this moment even more sweeter than I could imagine.”
The Georgia native is the daughter of two former D1 athletes with backgrounds in basketball and track.
“While Coco’s dad originally wanted her to be a basketball player like him, she didn’t like the sport and began playing tennis at 6 years old after seeing Serena Williams win the 2009 Australian Open,” InStyle said.
Her career as a tennis prodigy bloomed from there.
“Gauff received a wild card entry to Wimbledon in 2019 when she was 15 and immediately rose to prominence by defeating five-time tournament champion Venus Williams in the first round,” Biography.com said.
Last year, Guaff made it all the way to the finals at the French Open but fell just short to Iga Swiatek.
This year, she was finally able to get the Glad Slam title she hoped for, which she says still feels “unreal.”
Eurosport reported that after lifting the trophy, Gauff was enjoying her moment and said, “Thank you for the people who didn’t believe in me. A month ago, I won a 500 title – people said 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.”
Now, Gauff is the youngest American to win a Grand Slam event since Serena Williams won the same event at age 17 back in 1999.
In addition to having her name in history with Serena Williams, Guaff is also enjoying the spoils of her victory.
With several million-dollar endorsements, including New Balance and Bose, Guaff is reported to be one of the highest-paying female athletes.
“The victory saw Gauff take home $3 million, a figure that helped boost her season earnings to $5.5 million and her career earnings to $11.1 million,” Marca.com said.
Despite the immense success while still in her teens, Guaff is holding true to her roots and continuing to be a teenager at the end of the day.
“I have just been embracing every positive and negative thing that’s said about me. I realize sometimes people have different personalities, and some people need to shut off the comments and not look at them. But I’m an argumentative person. I’m very stubborn,” Guaff told AP News “My parents know: If they tell me one thing, I like to do the other.”