Delray Beach's Coco Gauff wins U.S. Open for first major tennis championship
NEW YORK — Three months ago, tennis legend Chris Evert predicted Coco Gauff was on the verge of winning a major tennis tournament.
On Saturday in the finals of the U.S. Open, the 19-year-old Delray Beach resident proved Chrissie true. Gauff rallied to defeat second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and will take home her first major trophy.
“When I saw her play at 15 years old at Wimbledon and beat Venus Williams, I for sure thought by now she would have won a major," Evert said in June while attending the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier at the Delray Beach Tennis Center. “But it's probably better for her because it's not happening overnight, she's not a flash in the pan. She's just going gradually on her path in a slower way. I think that's going to benefit her in the long run."
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Before a raucous crowd that was loud from start to finish, Gauff became the first American teenager to win the country’s major tennis tournament since Serena Williams, who also lives in Palm Beach County, in 1999. If last year’s U.S. Open was all about saying goodbye to Williams as she competed for the final time, this year’s two weeks in New York turned into a “Welcome to the big time!” for Gauff.
This is the sort of triumph that had — fairly or not — been expected of Gauff ever since she burst onto the scene at 15 by becoming the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history and making it to the fourth round in her Grand Slam debut in 2019.
“You did it!” Gauff’s mom told her Saturday, both in tears.
After dropping the first set, Gauff shook off early match nerves and bounced back to win the second set. She then took a 4-0 lead in the final set before putting it away. She has nine wins in Grand Slams after losing the first set.
Coco Gauff': Her grandmother was the first Black student at a Delray Beach school
Gauff was seeded sixth entering the tournament, but she came in with a lot of confidence, playing better than anyone on the WTA Tour. She was coming off a career run during the WTA’s American summer hardcourt series, winning titles in Washington, D.C., and the biggest Open tune-up at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati the weekend before the U.S. Open started.
She also had a new coaching team in former Spanish tour player Pere Riba and Brad Gilbert. After losing in the first round at Wimbledon, she has an 18-1 record.
Gauff led Sabalenka 3-2 in their series history. However, Sabalenka took the most recent one, 6-4, 6-0, at Indian Wells in March.
More: Billie Jean King Cup: Tennis legend raves about Coco Gauff, can envision her as future president
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Coco Gauff defeats Aryna Sabalenka in U.S. Open women's final
