Bill Simons
We know that when she was 15, Coco Gauff emerged as a sensation, and at 19 she won the US Open. But unsparing critics couldn’t help themselves. “What have you done for us lately?” they asked. “At the US Open semis, you double-faulted 19 times, your forehand goes on walkabouts too often and you’ve split with your coach, Brad Gilbert.”
Well, take a hike, haters. Coco signed up a new coach, Matt Daly, won the China Open and, at the WTA Championships in Saudi Arabia hopped on quite a magic carpet. She flew past the most dominant player of our era, her nemesis, Iga Swiatek, who is now the world No. 2. She soared past the world No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka, and then out-battled Zheng Qinwen, the Olympic Gold medalist and the fastest riser in the game, to win the title. Gauff became the youngest WTA Championships winner since Maria Sharapova in 2004 and the first American titleist since Serena in 2014.
It wasn’t easy. The see-saw final lasted over three hours. Gauff lost the first set to Zheng and was down a break in both the second and third sets and was just a game from defeat. But the world No. 3, according to Steve Weissman, “is the best problem solver in the game.” Already a wily veteran, the 20-year-old locked down and used her grit, variety and wheels to score a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) win and collect a women’s record $4.8 million. She’s won 13 of her last 15 matches, and, after her US Open title, this was the biggest win of her still incredibly young, breathtaking career.
