Coco Gauff wins the duel of the Linz winners against Aryna Sabalenka

Coco ist die neue Tennis-Queen von New York! Im Duell der Linz-Siegerinnen hat US-Teenager Coco Gauff am Samstag die neue Weltranglistenerste Aryna Sabalenka bezwungen und damit sensationell den US-Open-Titel gewonnen. 
 
A childhood dream has come true: After a tactical and combative world-class performance, the 19-year-old converted her first match point after two hours and seven minutes to win 2:6, 6:3, 6:2 against Australian Open champion Sabalenka. A short time later, Gauff rushed into her box - and there was a highly emotional three-way hug with her parents Candi and Corey, much like in 2019 at the Upper Austria Ladies LinzGauff won her first WTA title as a lucky loser at the age of 15 and 214 days. What is the saying? "It all starts in Linz!

For her first Grand Slam triumph at the age of 19 years and 181 days, Gauff received a winner's cheque for three million US dollars. The trophy was presented to her by tennis icon Billie Jean King. During the "Trophy Ceremony", the song "Unstoppable" by Australian singer Sia was played in the sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium. The losing Aryna Sabalenka, winner of Linz 2020, received 1.5 million dollars in prize money! And: Sabalenka replaces Poland's Iga Swiatek at the top of the world rankings, which will be published on Monday (tomorrow). Sabalenka becomes the 29th number one in women's tennis history. Gauff also achieves a new career-high ranking - third place. 
 
"Saw my father cry for the first time"
 
"This title means an incredible amount to me. I feel a bit like I'm in a state of shock. I'm just grateful for this moment, I'm honestly speechless," said Gauff. However, she still found words for a short speech and thanked her parents: "They always believed in me. Today was the first time I've ever seen my father cry. He always pretends to be tough, but he's not. My dad brought me here as a kid to watch Venus and Serena play." Gauff is the third US teenage women's player to triumph on home soil at the US Open after her idol Serena Williams (1999) and Tracy Austin (1979, 1981). The likeable Coco was the big crowd favourite in New York; in the final she was cheered on by numerous stars such as Nicole Kidman and Maria Sharapova (Linz winner in 2006). 
 
After Wimbledon, Gauff brought Brad Gilbert into her coaching team, the former successful coach of US world number one Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick. With the 62-year-old "tactical fox" in her box, she played a brilliant "US Swing" and had already won the 500 event in Washintgon DC and the Masters tournament in Cincinnati before the US Open. Overall, the sensational coup in Flushing Meadows was her fourth tournament win of the year - and the sixth title of her still young career.  
 
She left the court victorious against Sabalenka for the fourth time in their sixth duel. The 25-year-old Sabalenka proved to be a fair loser and had warm words for Gauff: "Coco, you played incredibly. Congratulations to you and your team. You deserve this title. There will be many more to come, I'm sure of that. I hope we will play many more finals - hopefully with a different result," she said with a twinkle in her eye. 
 
Gauff, already very mature and reflective at her young age, returned the compliments: "Aryna is an incredible player! Congratulations on reaching number one, it's well deserved. You are a very nice person behind the scenes. And the competitive spirit and the fire you bring to the court make our sport better." 
 
Coco Gauff in conversation with Sandra Reichel: "I will never forget Linz"
 
Linz tournament director Sandra Reichel, who was in New York herself during the first week of the tournament, watched the final with great enthusiasm. After the emotional experience that the winners of the 2019 and 2020 WTA tournaments in Linz had given her, she said: "It's unbelievable that two Linz winners played for the US Open title. I met Coco at the WTA Gala in New York and she told me that she will never forget Linz, where she celebrated the first tournament win of her career in 2019. Coco was also the keynote speaker at the gala, and the picture with her trophy at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz faded in. That makes us all, my MatchMaker team and myself, really very proud."