Coco Gauff ran her way into tennis history Saturday afternoon. Then she ran off the Arthur Ashe Stadium court and into the stands, for a long, tearful embrace with her parents.
Just 19 years old, Gauff summited to tennis’ pinnacle, with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open final.
She became the first American to win at Flushing Meadows since 2017, and the youngest to do so since 1999. And she did it not only with physical tools and great coaching, but also with maturity and mental toughness.
Gauff took her cues from the late Kobe Bryant.
“Yeah, definitely. He [had] an incredible mentality,” Gauff said earlier in the week. “So that’s the mentality that I have. I’m trying to enjoy the moment, but also knowing I still have more work to do. Yes, the final is an incredible achievement, but it’s something that I’m not satisfied with yet.”
She may not have been satisfied just reaching the final, but the championship — her first-ever Grand Slam win — was more than satisfying. It was sweet, and after it was over, she fell on her back on the court and burst into tears.
Well-earned tears.
Gauff won because she learns. She has learned how to win ugly.
Yes, she runs like a track star. Her mother, Candi, was one at Florida State. And she has the athleticism of a basketball star. Her dad, Corey, was one at Georgia State. But despite the wide array of tennis weapons in her arsenal, the one that has allowed her to climb from just another promising prospect to Grand Slam threat isn’t between the baselines, but between the ears.
Gauff keeps her ears and eyes open. She learns. And she puts those lessons to use.
Whether those are life lessons picked up from her parents and grandmother, or hard truths about her own game that she needed to address. After a first-round exit at Wimbledon this year, she brought renowned Brad Gilbert onto her coaching team and she responded with a 18-1 run and U.S. Open title.
After she had struggled to find ways to pull out victories when she wasn’t at her all-world best, Gauff has absorbed Gilbert’s old mantra of winning ugly. And she has learned how to thrive under pressure by not heaping even more of it on her own shoulders in big moments like this.
It’s the very definition of mental toughness.
“It’s unique to every person. It comes with trial and error,” Gauff said this past week. “What I learned about myself is that in these moments that I shouldn’t put so much pressure in these matches, because when you’re playing these tournaments, the pressure is always on. They’re so intense and you always want to win.
“For me I just learned how to cope with that better the more I’ve reached this level. You have some people who [knew how to] already when they come on tour, and some who need to learn. That’s just part of life and just part of learning. … The more I’ve gotten into this position, the more I’ve just been able to learn how to handle it.”
On the biggest stage of Gauff’s young life, she learned minute-by-minute. It showed in the way she adjusted against Sabalenka, who’ll wake up Monday as the No. 1 player in the world, but was clearly No. 2 on the court Saturday.
Gauff started off with seemingly shaky confidence and a clearly shaky forehand. Sabalenka broke her very first service game, but not her will.
Despite playing poorly and losing the first set 6-2, Gauff kept her poise. It was the third time she had lost the opening set this tournament, and the third time she stormed back to win.
In the second set, Gauff finally started playing her game: open, free, fast, dictating play.
Gauff played great defense, got to every ball, and forced longer rallies than an election campaign. And she won almost all of them, swinging the second set in her favor 6-3.
It was only the second set the 25-year-old Sabalenka had dropped all tournament. And it unnerved the big Belarusian in the process. She started switching rackets repeatedly, but the equipment wasn’t the issue; the opponent was.
And Gaff was unnerving Sabalenka in the process. After she had lost to Sabalenka 6-4, 6-0 at Indian Wells, Gauff solved her forehand.
Gauff broke Sabalenka three of four times to go up 5-2 in the third. She served out the match, and served her way into tennis history.
