Coco Gauff silenced all the doubters who, in 2023, repeatedly claimed that she had achieved all that she could. She would prove them wrong by winning a WTA 500 title, then a WTA 1000 before finally getting her hands on tennis' most glittering prize - her first Grand Slam title
Thursday 12 October 2023 09:45, UK
It was an American dream come true as Coco Gauff became the first American teenager to win at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.
Already renowned for a level of maturity rarely seen for someone so young, Gauff delivered one of the greatest winning speeches in New York last month following her victory from a set down against Aryna Sabalenka - silencing doubters who said a Grand Slam title would never come.
"I've tried my best to carry this with grace and I've been doing my best so honestly, to those who thought you were putting water on my fire, you're really adding gas to it. And now I'm really burning so bright right now," said the 19-year-old.
In the build-up she had won a WTA 500 level title in Washington - which she backed up with a prestigious WTA 1000 Cincinnati title - often the last stop for the elite players, before a week of fine-tuning at Flushing Meadows.
Despite the success, there were those who felt the need to tell her that was going to be as good as it gets on social media platforms.
In truth, it very nearly was. Her route to lift the title was messy, to say the least.
Twice, before the second week, Gauff was forced to show all her fighting spirit to come from a set down to progress in the final major of the season.
In the final, Australian Open champion Sabalenka owned the court in the first set, leaving Gauff having to solve the puzzle before rallying to carve herself a little piece of history.
Wind the clock back four years, and the prolific former junior world No 1 was handed a wildcard into Wimbledon qualifying.
She made good use of it, becoming the youngest player to make the main draw via qualification.
As the sun was setting on the careers of the Williams' sisters, Gauff, 15 at the time, caused a huge shock by downing five-time Wimbledon champion Venus in the opening round.
The growing hype saw her next upset Magdalena Rybarikova before defeating Polona Hercog in three sets. Her bubble eventually burst at the hands of the eventual champion, Simona Halep.
She followed that up with a run to the third round of the US Open, losing to Naomi Osaka, but was invited to share the post-match microphone with her.
Her first title followed later that year in Linz, where she had lost in the qualifying rounds, before being granted a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser.
The challenge for players rising the ranks so sharply is to get the results on the WTA tour, but no-one could have predicted a global pandemic, that would shut any kind of momentum down.
Gauff, now just 16-years-old, used her voice on social media to urge people to vote and speak out against racism in an emotional speech during a protest in her hometown of Delray Beach, Florida.
The maturity she demonstrated even then would stand her in good stead. By now players were getting measure of the hard-hitting teen. Her forehand tended to break down and could be exploited as a weakness by more experienced players.
As the world came out of the pandemic, her progress at the Slams continued with a quarter-final at the French Open and another run to the fourth round at Wimbledon.
It was her run to the final of the French Open in 2022 had those in the game wondering just how good she could become. Despite being beaten in straight sets by Iga Swiatek, Gauff had demonstrated that she belonged with the very best.
She was able to give home fans something to cheer late that year by reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open for the first time.
Looking at her Slam results this year, arguably Wimbledon was her only disappointment. Gauff made the fourth round again in Melbourne and the quarter-finals at the French Open and then, of course, the rest is history.
She made her debut in the WTA Finals last year but failed to get out of the round-robin group stages, but this time around greater things will be expected of her.
Regardless of what 2024 holds for her, Gauff has nothing to prove on or off the court.
A young woman who carries a sense of social responsibility, recognising the good she can do with her platform, a healthy dose of 'doubt me at your peril' sprinkled with talent that could see her become one of the greats of the game.
Will she go on to emulate a career similar to her idols? Expect her to win multiple Grand Slams and she doesn't even turn 20 until next March.
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