The moment that has seemed inevitable ever since Coco Gauff first emerged as a 15-year-old qualifier at Wimbledon in 2019 finally came to pass on a thrilling evening of drama inside the world’s biggest tennis stadium. The American claimed her first grand-slam title at the US Open by battling back from a set down to beat the incoming world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
This was not a match that will be remembered for its quality, but for the way in which Gauff was willed to victory by a feverish capacity crowd of 24,000 people on the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The No 6 seed recovered from a poor start to prevail 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 over the course of two hours and six minutes.
Twelve months on
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