Who is Coco Gauff, great winner of the US Open and new darling of tennis

Game, set, match and memes. On Saturday, September 9, 2023, Coco Gauff won the US Open, against Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (2-6, 6-3, 6-2) at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. It is his first Grand Slam title win, at just 19 years old. About her Her touching reaction after her victory is already making the rounds on the web, confirming her status as a tennis champion and the new darling of popular culture.

Who is Coco Gauff, winner of the 2023 US Open

Cori Dionne “Coco” Gauff, her real name, was born in 2004 in Atlanta, of an athlete mother turned educator and a basketball player father turned healthcare executive. She started playing tennis at the age of six and her parents gradually put her career aside to look after that of their talented daughter. At age 10 in 2014, she began training in France with Patrick Mouratoglou, Serena Williams’ longtime coach. At 10 years and three months, she became the youngest champion in the history of the USTA CLay Court National 12 and under tournament, before winning at other junior championships. She even became the No. 1 junior in the world after winning the 2018 French Open junior singles title and also won a major junior doubles title at the 2018 US Open.

Today Coco Gauff is ranked third in the world in singles according to the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and world number 1 in doubles. She has won eight doubles titles – five partnering Jessica Pegula and three with Caty McNally – and six WTA Tour singles titles, now including the 2023 US Open major. This latest win earns her even more comparisons to Serena Williams , especially because it makes her the youngest American winner of the US Open since the GOAT (The best of all time : the best of all time) in 1999.

Because Coco Gauff is already the darling of pop culture

In addition to her talent on the pitch, Coco Gauff already has an engaging personality. After her victory at the US Open, she humbly thanked those who inspired her and paved the way for her to triumph today. In the interview for ESPNShe says it wouldn’t have been possible without the representations that Serena and Venus Williams represented for her:

“I mean, it’s for them that I have this trophy today, to be honest. They allowed me to believe in this dream. Growing up, not many black tennis players dominated the sport. They were the only two I knew when I was younger. »

Coco Gauff also wanted to pay tribute to Billie Jean King who fought for equal pay in tennis.

Even more surprisingly, she also took advantage of her victory to thank those who didn’t believe in her:

“I did my best to wear it gracefully. Honestly, for those who thought you were adding water to the fire, you were actually adding gas. And I’m burning so bad now”

Obviously she congratulated Serena Williams, but also Michelle and Barack Obama.

And if her talent, humility and philosophy of life weren’t enough, Coco Gauff also has a lot of humor and seems very approachable. She demonstrated this by joking about how she FaceTimed her brother immediately after winning, to no avail. Or during a previous match, when she confided that seeing Justin Bieber had motivated her to win: ” Clearly I can’t lose to him “, She said ESPN, while she had already performed in front of Michelle and Barack Obama. Many of her videos surpass millions of views on TikTok.

Furthermore, one of his archives is going viral. We see her, at the age of eight, dancing” call me Maybe » by Carly Rae Jepsen, in the stands of this championship that she would ultimately win. only 19 years old. It’s come full circle and it’s already a huge journey, but it’s still just the beginning of Coco Gauff’s career.

Do you like our articles? You’ll love our newsletters! Sign up for free on this page.