Coco Gauff is securing her legacy on the court. On Sept. 9, the 19-year-old won the 2023 US Open, making history as the youngest American to win the title since Serena Williams in 1999.
Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka, leading to her first major title with a scoring board of 2-6, 6-3, and 6-2. In the heat of the moment, Gauff was met with overwhelming emotions which fluctuated throughout her body causing her to immediately drop to the ground in disbelief.
Video footage of the Delray Beach, Fl native of her sobbing on the court after her win went viral. She was congratulated by family and friends; and before taking in their embraces—she showed her love for her fans by sharing a heart she made with her hands.
“It’s so crazy, I don’t think I’ve gotten to digest,” Gauff recalled the historic moment with NBC News. “ Even last night I was telling myself, ‘you’re a Grand Slam Champion.’”
She continued, “I feel like it hit all at once because I didn’t want to tell myself it was match point on the match points, I didn’t want to start shaking. So when it happened and like, finally it was over, my previous matches (have) taken me like six, seven match points to win and that was on the first one so I was a little bit shocked and I couldn’t breathe either.”
Her mother, Candi Gauff described her daughter as “a very dedicated, self-disciplined person.”
“ She was very gifted as a child,” Candi told the TODAY Show. “She always strived to do her best. It comes from within her.”
Gauff’s hard work received praise and recognition from another tennis icon, Venus Williams.
Williams commented under the YouTube video uploaded from ‘TODAY’ with co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.
“congrats coco <3,” the seven-time Grand Slam champion wrote. Gauff defeated Williams at Wimbledon in 2019, where she became the youngest player ever to qualify for the draw.
Rightfully so, Gauff celebrated her monumental win on her Instagram.
“concrete jungle where dreams are made of….,” she captioned a picture of herself kissing her trophy.
We love seeing Coco win. Like Serena and Venus before her, she’s quickly become the representation young Black girls all over need to see.
