American teenager Coco Gauff came from behind on Saturday to win the US Open and take her first Grand Slam title with a victory over Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. Gauff, 19, produced a courageous performance on the Arthur Ashe Stadium pitch to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 2 hours and 6 minutes, completing a fairytale transformation in her season’s fortunes. The sixth seed from Florida had gone into the final as an underdog against the tough second seed Sabalenka, who will become world number one in the rankings next week. But with both players making a slew of errors during an error-strewn final watched by a record 28,143 people, it was Gauff who held her nerve when it came to sealing a deserved victory.
The win marked 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 achieved the biggest win of her career after a crushing defeat at the French Open last year.
“It means so much to me,” said a delighted Gauff afterwards. ‘I feel like I’m in a bit of shock right now.
“That defeat at the French Open (last year) was heartbreak for me. That makes this moment even sweeter than I could imagine.”
Gauff, the third American teenager to win the US Open after Tracy Austin and Serena Williams, also used her victory speech to thank those who doubted her talent.
“Honestly, I thank the people who didn’t believe in me,” she joked.
“To those who thought they put water on my fire, they put gas on my fire and I am burning so brightly now.”
Gauff was in trouble in the opening match, Sabalenka breaking her immediately with a rasping backhand that drew a roar of “Come on!” of the Belarusian.
She easily held on to take a 2–0 lead, but Gauff then took advantage of a shaky service game from Sabalenka to break to 2–2 in the fourth.
The Belarusian double-faulted twice, allowing Gauff to level again.
But that hard-won equality was surrendered in the next game when Sabalenka pulled away to take the lead 3-2.
Sabalenka then wobbled again on her own serve as Gauff grabbed two break points in the sixth game.
But Sabalenka brought 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 a third time to race ahead 5-2, and she wrapped up the set by holding the next game.
But with the match threatening to become a rout, Gauff finally shifted gears in the second set, making fewer unforced errors and ironing out the kinks in her serve.
Instead, it was Sabalenka who began to show signs of brittleness as the tension increased. She made a double fault to give Gauff the only break of the set and a 3-1 lead.
Gauff fended off a break point in the next game to hold at 4-1 and held on for the rest of the set to level the match when Sabalenka hit a forehand long.
Gauff’s momentum remained strong in the final set and she made another crucial break in the opening game when she put away an under-hit Sabalenka lob with a smash.
Gauff then easily held a 2-0 lead as Sabalenka struggled to regain any semblance of composure.
She coughed up four unforced errors to give Gauff a break and a 3-0 lead, after which the American held on with ease to take a 4-0 lead.
Sabalenka stopped the rot by holding serve in the fifth game before taking a medical timeout to receive treatment on her left thigh.
However, Gauff was in no mood to loosen her grip on the match.
Although Sabalenka held and broke Gauff to cut the lead to 4-2, Gauff hit back when Sabalenka double-faulted to set up a break point.
Gauff cashed to break and take a 5-2 lead and then cruised to victory in the next game, holding at love with a backhand winner.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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