US Open, Coco Gauff in the final: America is crazy about its star

America will have the final. Coco Gauff has grown up. At 19 years and 4 months, she reached her first US Open final. in New York. It may be the fresh air of the Big Apple or its magic, but Coco (6-4, 7-5 vs. Karolina Muchova) may be the only athlete in contention for the title. It could have been a great women’s celebration, if Madison Keys, who had returned to life, had not been subjected to the angry return of Aryna Sabalenka, who wanted to repeat and equal the record of Martina Trevisan, the first in history to win a Grand Slam after recovering from her loss. First set 6-0 (against Putintseva, then won in two tiebreaks), repeating exactly the same score: 0-6, 7-6, 7-6.

However, it remains Coco’s day. I have waited a long time and declared that today Coco Gauff looks like a veteran fighter: one might say “but where did she go?”. But, as we know, growth involves ups and downs, and the Barilla girl (whom I have long eyed), the girl who entered the magic circle of Federer and his entourage, seems to have reached a balance. What is not, as previously mentioned, is the influence of New York on American tennis players.

We remember her in 2019, when she reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon. At fifteen years old, she became the youngest player ever to clear the qualifiers, beating one of her inspirations, Venus Williams. The consequences were immediate: Vogue immediately devoted articles and covers to her, the world discovered the heir to the Williams sisters, and Michelle Obama dedicated her without hesitation. It’s a lot of burden for a fifteen-year-old girl, don’t you think?

And so other good results followed, but not a real breakthrough. Neither the Slams nor other important tournaments. Fortunately, the parents brought up the issue of not wanting to see their daughter burned by the system, trying to protect her in her choice, even though we are talking about a little girl who quietly announced – at the age of ten – that she wanted to become number one in the world (Patrick Mouratoglou Dixit) .

Well, by reaching the final at the US Open, Coco (real name Cory) became number five in the world. If she wins against Sabalenka, she will become number three. This dream is getting closer.