Coco Gauff, a 19-year-old American, has won the US Open women's singles title with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka. Gauff became the first American to win a US Open singles title since Sloane Stephens in 2017. The 19-year-old American, from Florida, mounted a strong second set fight back and kept the momentum going until the end of the battle before falling to the court after clinching the title with a backhand winner.
Sabalenka had a superb start but could not keep the momentum going as unforced errors piled up, closing her 2023 Grand Slam run. Gauff, who is the first American teenager to win the country's major tennis tournament since Serena Williams in 1999, reached her initial major final at last year's French Open and now has earned the biggest trophy of her still-nascent career.
Gauff earned a 12th consecutive victory and 18th in her past 19 matches dating to a first-round exit at the All England Club in July. She broke to begin the third set on just one such point, tracking down every ball hit her way until eventually smacking a put-away volley that she punctuated with a fist pump and a scream of, “Come on!”.
At 4-1, Sabalenka took a medical timeout while her left leg was massaged. Gauff stayed sharp during the break by practising some serves. When the game resumed, Sabalenka broke to get within 4-2, but Gauff broke right back and soon served out the victory, dropping onto her back on the court.
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