NEW YORK: Coco Gauff said tennis icons Serena and Venus Williams paved the way for her breakthrough US Open triumph on Saturday after the American teenager captured her first Grand Slam title.
The 19-year-old from Florida battled to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Aryna Sabalenka at the Arthur Ashe Stadium — where as a child she had watched the Williams sisters dominate.
The win ensured Gauff will have her name etched into tennis history alongside other Black American women to lift the title such as the Williams sisters, Althea Gibson and Sloane Stephens. “It’s crazy.
I mean, they’re the reason why I have this trophy today, to be honest,” Gauff said of the Williams sisters. “They have allowed me to believe in this dream growing up.
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