Within the world of sports, there is always a rise and fall of athletes’ domination. Some of these spans depend on the competition in that field. However, one athlete in particular has risen to the top despite her young age, no matter the high competition: Coco Gauff.
At the ripe age of 14, Gauff changed over to pro in 2018. Although that transition at first was a bit challenging, with her losing in the opening round of the US Open the following year, she became the youngest player to reach the main draw in a Grand Slam by qualifying in the Open Era at 15 years (Wimbledon 2019.) Even with that being an impressive feat all in itself, one aspect that overshadows that is she ended up beating one of the most prominent names in the world of women’s tennis: Venus Williams. This allowed her to reach the fourth round. I couldn’t even fathom not only making it to this high of a level but also competing against and beating one of the Williams sisters.
Gauff didn’t stop her momentum here. She went on that year to take the WTA Tour singles title at the 2019 Linz Open. Going into 2020, she continued to climb up the ranks. Being ranked No. 67, she went into the Australian Open with high expectations and didn’t disappoint. She advanced to the third round and ended up defeating defending champion Naomi Osaka, which became another fantastic feat. She became the youngest player to defeat a top-5 player since Jennifer Capriati beat Gabriela Sabatini at the 1991 US Open. However, one major obstacle that not only she but every athlete and even person in the world faced was the COVID-19 pandemic. This forced a pause in her upcoming season but didn’t impact her playing once everything opened back up.
In 2021, Gauff obtained her first major final with partner Caty McNally in the US Open. Although they didn’t come out on top, this final moved her rank up to the top 40, placing her at No. 38. She also was selected to play at the 2020 Olympics but sadly had to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. But 2022 was the year that we saw her truly start to shine. Gauff not only entered her first major single finals at the French Open but also entered the finals in doubles with Jessica Pegula, resulting in her becoming top five in doubles. She later rose to rank No.1 in doubles after a stellar performance at the Canadian Open.
With much on the line in 2023, she had to be on her a-game in order to up her performance from the previous year. This didn’t hold her back but instead fueled her, resulting in her taking her first major title at the US Open. She beat world-ranked No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and became the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999, moving her to No. 3 in singles. Her achieving this in such a short period is insane to me. Seeing her accomplish this when she was 19 is something that I couldn’t even imagine doing. The drive, determination, and a bit of talent proves that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve it, no matter your age.
