The teenager Cori Coco Gauff triumphed for the first time in a “Grand Slam” tournament with success in the final of the US Open against the new world number one Aryna Sabalenka by 2-1 (2:6, 6:3, 6:2) in 2:03 hours of play.
The battle for the trophy turned into a typical competition of excessive aggression from the Belarusian player and exceptional defense from the American. As many as 66 unforced errors were committed by the two finalists, which contributed to the low quality of the match’s production, but also the nervous tension expectedly peaked.
Throughout the match, Aryna Sabalenka held the development of the plays, but made only 25 winners at the expense of as many as 46 unforced errors. Cori Coco Gauff was by far the better player with 12 winners and 19 unforced errors, which ensured her ultimate success.
Cori Coco Gauff is the fourth different American to win the US Open in the 21st century – the others are Sloane Stephens (2017), Serena Williams (2014, 2013, 2012, 2008, 2002) and Venus Williams (2001). She is also the youngest two-time Grand Slam finalist since Maria Sharapova, who in 2006 reached the final stage of the US Open and won Wimbledon in 2004. The previous “major” final for Cori Coco Gauff was at “Roland Garros” last year, when Iga Swiatek smashed her by 2-0 (6:1, 6:3).
A curious fact is that for the 15th time in the last 17 Grand Slam finals, the younger finalist won the title. Champion Cori Coco Gauff will be world’s number third from Monday, while Aryna Sabalenka will be the world’s number one..
The first set started strongly for Aryna Sabalenka, taking a lead of 2:0 with a break in her favor. However, her opponent equalized to 2:2. Aryna Sabalenka’s 13th and 14th unforced errors put her in a position to defend a break point, but finally the first serve came in and helped her to a forehand winner for deuce. The Belarusian blundered once more in this way, but neutralized with an ace on the straight in the advantage box. The eight-minute game still ended in favor of the new world’s number one and she saved herself from returning the break – 4:2. Cori Coco Gauff’s next service game turned out to be much more uneven, as she made a total of three unprovoked errors and found herself in trouble at 5:2. Aryna Sabalenka missed her first set point, which she deserved, and her opponent’s inaccuracies weighed on the next play and the first set ended – 6:2 in 39 minutes.
The second set was in favor of the American teenager, who made the first break in the fourth game of the set, taking a lead of 3:1, which proved to be enough to close the set by 6:3 without giving a breakpoint to her opponent.
The third set started terribly for Aryna Sabalenka, who made a lot of unforced errors, which gave advantage to the young American tennis talent, who made two breaks and took a lead of 4:0. This was enough for her to close the set by 6:2 and thus to win her first Grand Slam title.