Teenager Coco Gauff wins the US Open by defeating second seed Aryna Sabalenka

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Coco Gauff would do at some point. Didn't matter how young she was. Didn't matter whether there were setbacks along the way.

Those outsized expectations did not make the task of becoming a Grand Slam champion as a teenager any easier — especially when that chorus was accompanied by voices of others who doubted her.

She did it, though. At age 19. At the U.S.

Open, where she used to come as a kid with her parents to watch her idols, Serena and Venus Williams, compete.

Gauff set aside a so-so start and surged to her first major championship by coming back to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the U.S. Open final on Saturday, delighting a raucous crowd that was loud from start to finish.

When it was over, when she had shed tears of joy, when she had hugged Mom and Dad as they cried, too, Gauff first thanked them, and her grandparents, and her brothers, one of whom failed to answer a FaceTime call from her right after the match. And then Gauff took the microphone to address anyone who might have questioned if this day would arrive.

«Thank you to the people who didn't believe in me.

Like a month ago, I won a (tour) title and people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago I won a (tour) title and people were saying that was the biggest it was going to get. So three weeks later, I'm here with this trophy right now,» said Gauff, who is on a career-best 12-match winning streak.