Today marks one month since Coco Gauff clinched her first Major title, and it felt fitting that career-best achievement came at her home Grand Slam tournament too – against the new world no. 1 in Aryna Sabalenka, from a set down no less. Having reeled off a series of gritty victories during last month’s event and since reaching the Beijing semifinals this past week, here’s a look at how the teenager reached the mountain top six months before her 20th birthday.
Gauff’s greatness and her growth was no accident
While the manner of this US Open triumph was fitting given her characteristics, that didn’t make it any less gritty or grinding for Coco Gauff to complete.
The penultimate Major before turning 20, the American had everyone transfixed on her progress and this time – unlike in years past – there was no false dawn.
Before recording a recovery win over Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka in the showpiece event, a battle of two first-time US Open finalists, it’s important not to gloss over a tricky test she overcame in the semifinals against French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova – who she also bested in Cincinnati.
How did that one go?
Gauff bt. Muchova 6-4, 7-5
A sluggish start left commentators scratching their head, as Muchova sprayed errors aplenty and helped Coco into an ever-increasing first set lead without much effort.
It didn’t take long for the murmurs to begin, some neutrals naturally remembering the mistake-laden Jelena Ostapenko quarterfinal. Were we going to see a repeat?
Just as I said at the time, she couldn’t afford to boost the American’s confidence by relinquishing free points at will.
Nerves are natural, especially in heightened situations like this one for Muchova, but this stuttering play couldn’t last much longer if this was going to be competitive.
Well, the Czech played her way into form – from a double break down no less – targeting the American’s forehand where possible, getting a groove going after some pulsating longer rally points while constructing her gameplan better too.
Yet the 27-year-old’s response came ten minutes too late in a set where she was under scoreboard pressure throughout and it ultimately told, serving to prolong a set that quickly evaded her grasp.
There was one point in the latter stages which typified how Muchova would’ve been feeling, a bemused look from her box told the story as she lost a well-executed point at the net, Gauff landing a forehand winner on the back edge of the baseline.
Without warning there was an extraordinary delay of nearly an hour from when Gauff held serve to start set two, as a trio of climate change protesters high in the stands disrupted play. Two reportedly barricaded themselves to the chairs, while another glued his feet to the floor as they shouted about environment and fossil fuels.
The players left and after some uncomfortable scenes, it seemed the impromptu break freed Gauff to be more assertive after a tale of two sets in the first stanza.
From 5-1 up in the opening set, she lost three straight games and the 2022 French Open runner-up lost rhythm rather rapidly as the tide began turning.
Muchova could’ve levelled the score but alas, was fighting a losing battle from such a disadvantageous position and needed to reset in the second. That’s exactly what she did, as the pair held serve without fuss for the first seven games of set two.
Muchova alternated between fantastic and frustrating to gift Gauff the initiative – missing a makeable overhead, then double-faulting on serve after winning a 21-shot rally moments earlier, and the teenager produced an inch-perfect drop shot to earn her first match point in the subsequent game.
Points like these only heightened the tension between them, as Muchova held firm under duress to put the onus back on the home favourite with aggression at the net.
Gauff couldn’t afford to let this go into a decider, and sealed the deal at the sixth time of asking – pouncing on a loopy drop shot and winning a gripping 40-shot rally prior.
“I’m glad to be in the final of a tournament I watched a lot growing up, it means so much to me but the job’s not finished,” she said in her on-court interview.
After sharing a nice moment with two-time US Open champion and new mother Naomi Osaka who watched courtside, it was about to get a lot harder.
Sabalenka, the good and the bad
Sabalenka consciously took time away from Gauff early and it worked well enough, with heavy and hard forehands during rallies to keep her guessing — yet there were some jarring moments like these foreshadowing what was to come:
Gauff’s foot speed and crazy court coverage means she’s never out of a point even when others would’ve wilted, often forcing opponents to win it two or three times.
That’s exhausting and forces them into overcompensating, which the Belarusian did too often in spots you’d expect the world no. 1 to finish with her eyes closed.
She roared with relief, more than any other emotion, after saving two break points to hold at 4-2 as Gauff’s shot defence kept asking uncomfortable questions of a power hitter who similarly didn’t want to give an already partisan crowd any more fuel.
Gauff’s error count increased and soon enough, Sabalenka had banked a 6-2 opening set without warning – further emphasising how important that aforementioned hold was for the 25-year-old. There was plenty still to play.
After all, you only have to ask Elena Rybakina or four-time Major titlist Iga Swiatek how difficult it is to close a championship match once you’ve won set one.
Any pressure had switched across the net as they changed ends, and now Gauff could hit freely knowing she gave it her best shot if it was to be a spirited losing effort.
Sabalenka when firing is the world’s best player, but you could argue the same for two or three others on tour. When under duress, her game teeters uncomfortably on the edge and that’s exactly where Gauff needed her to produce this comeback.
Unsure at times and wasteful in other sequences, it still wouldn’t be an easy task.
Three doubles in quick succession didn’t exactly settle the nerves, but three unforced errors and a double-fault on break point allowed Gauff to shift momentum her way. After five games in set two, the raw UE numbers told their own story:
Sabalenka’s level had dropped though, while Gauff made her play extra balls during their longer rallies – exchanges she was largely losing in set one – to increase the likelihood of an error or mistimed shot for the fleet-footed teenager to seize upon.
Couple that with a more assertive first serve (81% points won) and you can see why the pendulum swung in the home favourite’s direction as an agitated Sabalenka was guilty of overcooking forehands.
Gauff fed off those mistakes and didn’t waver easily during longer points to level the score at one set apiece, though deciding sets are never a certainty. Starting fast is important, as well as maintaining your nerve and level with the finish line in sight.
In the space of the first two points, you could see Sabalenka’s predicament unfolding in real-time. Even when hitting big groundstrokes and booming serves, Gauff’s defence meant this match would largely be decided by the Belarusian’s forehand.
Fantastic at times but flagging repeatedly, it’s not a sustainable way to play and Coco took strength from that – eventually she’d have an opportunity.
A backhand return which caught the back edge of the baseline proved an unlikely catalyst to clinch an early break, Gauff racing to the net and finishing with a smash after another Sabalenka net cord forced her forwards.
Changing racquets twice on successive points didn’t help matters either for the 25-year-old, who had lost her rhythm and soon staring down a 4-0 deficit.
Holding serve to get on the scoreboard before calling for the medical trainer with some muscular discomfort, Gauff was broken for the first time in a while and this disconcerting view from her players’ box made sense:
Sabalenka handed it straight back though, the night’s loudest roar erupted and the American stood just four points from history at her home Major. She sealed the deal with a backhand up-the-line winner and collapsed on the court, soaking up an unforgettable moment many expect is only the start of long Major-winning career.
What’s next for both?
After soaking up the moment and some well-earned recovery banked, Gauff ventured to Beijing and won four matches – extending her win streak to 16 – before old foe Swiatek proved too hot to handle in the semifinals (6-2, 6-3) en route to the Pole’s maiden Masters 1000 title at Liudmila Samsonova’s expense on October 8.
In a piece written by Courtney Nguyen, Gauff was quoted as saying:
“It was honestly a little bit weird because it was just one of the biggest things in your life, then you go home and you’re back to cleaning and doing all the regular stuff that you do.
I know I have lots of tennis left in me, don’t want to just dwell on this – it was amazing – but it’s time to move on. I think maybe because my eagerness and ambition is so high, I don’t want to end at just one [Slam].”
Having withdrawn from Zhengzhou, her year-end calendar is relatively short, after sustaining a shoulder injury in Beijing – focusing on the WTA Finals in three weeks’ time, hoping to produce a much better showing than she managed last season.
As for Sabalenka, the initial pain of defeat – from a set up no less – will have subsided by now but in an alternate universe, she could conceivably be holding all four Major titles in what has been a career-best season for her, so perspective is important.
“It’s a lesson for me, I’ll learn and come back stronger. I was dealing with emotions quite good in the first set, she was definitely moving unbelievable but I started overthinking [in the second set onwards].
Losing my power, she moved better, I started missing a lot of easy shots… the good news is it’s me against me, the bad is I’m still having these issues playing against myself but I’ll work harder so next time, I don’t get tired on court.”
Australian Open: Champion
French Open: Semifinalist after winning opening set vs. Muchova
Wimbledon: Again, lost three-set semifinal after leading against Jabeur
US Open: Runner-up after winning first set
Having lost to Rybakina in the Beijing quarterfinals last week, the Belarusian similarly hasn’t got a busy schedule for the rest of the season – not competing in any of next week’s WTA 250 events, already qualifying for the WTA Finals (Oct. 29 – Nov. 5).
Instead, she spoke in her post-match presser about the importance of finishing the season as year-end world no. 1 and Swiatek’s aforementioned success in Asia only makes that race even tougher in the coming weeks. Regardless of the outcome, it sets up nicely as her title defence is just around the corner. We’ll see soon enough.
Pictures via Getty, GIFS and screenshots via Eurosport broadcast
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