American tennis is in good fingers with Coco Gauff, US Open tournament director Stacey Allaster has mentioned because the charismatic teen seems to be to finish her breakthrough yr on a excessive.
Gauff mounted a shocking comeback to defeat Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in an exciting US Open last, claiming her first Grand Slam title and her place in American tennis royalty.
The triumph got here amid a 16-match profitable streak for the 19-year-old that ended within the China Open semi-finals final month by the hands of outdated foe Iga Swiatek of Poland.
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“The next generation has arrived and stood on the shoulders of the great Serena Williams and Venus Williams,” mentioned Allaster, the chief govt, Professional Tennis, with the USTA.
“It feels like she’s been around for a long time. She’s only 19 – she is special. She is humble and kind, she’s hardworking. And she is very, very focused on winning.”
Her victory in New York was made all of the sweeter for Allaster, the previous WTA head who received the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Billie Jean King Leadership Award this yr after the US Open celebrated its fiftieth anniversary of gender equal prize cash.
It is a landmark that has but to be replicated throughout all of tennis because the WTA introduced earlier this yr a “pathway to handing out equal prize money” at mixed WTA 1000 and 500 occasions, ranging from 2027.
“It’s certainly a proof point of the value of women’s sport, of women’s tennis, when the fans are showing up in the stadiums and loving it,” she mentioned.
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World No 3 Gauff will subsequent compete within the WTA Finals in Cancun, with the group stage of the season-ending tournament kicking off on Sunday.
“I am looking forward to seeing how Coco performs with, you know, a greater spotlight on her. She’s had a spotlight on her for a long time. This is a marathon. It’s not a sprint,” mentioned Allaster. “We have seen her resilience.”
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