Stat of the Day: Coco Gauff joins exclusive club with Shriver, Austin, Venus and Serena

The 19-year-old is just the fifth female American teenager to reach the final of the US Open in the Open Era.

Published Sep 08, 2023

Rob Gronkowski watches, then meets Coco Gauff at the US Open | The Break

Advertising

Nineteen-year-old Coco Gauff lit up the New York crowds on Thursday night, battling past Karolina Muchova in an electric semifinal clash, 6-4, 7-5, to reach her first US Open final.

With that, she joined an exclusive club: she's just the fifth female American teenager in the Open Era to reach a US Open final.

FEMALE U.S. TEENAGERS TO REACH US OPEN FINAL (Open Era)
~ Pam Shriver (1978)
~ Tracy Austin (1979, 1981)
~ Venus Williams (1997)
~ Serena Williams (1999, 2001)
~ Coco Gauff (2023)

As of now, the only names on the above list to go all the way to the title are Austin (who won both of those finals in 1979 and 1981) and Serena (who won the first of those two finals in 1999).

Gauff is also the first American teenager, male or female, to reach the US Open final since Serena in 2001. Just a few weeks from her 20th birthday, Serena finished runner-up to Venus that year.

Gauff is now 17-1 since Wimbledon.

Advertising

Gauff is now through to the second Grand Slam final of her career, having reached the final of Roland Garros last year as an 18-year-old, finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek on the terre battue.

“You know, playing that match, I don’t know, the whole tournament felt like a surprise to me,” Gauff said of her run in Paris 15 months ago. “I wasn’t expecting the final here either, but I just think then I was really winning and just relieved that I made it to a final because so many people expected a lot of things from me. You know, I think I just didn’t really believe that I had it in me, especially at the time playing Iga, who was on a winning streak and everything.

“But this time around, I have been focusing more on myself and my expectations of myself, not going on social media or listening to people who believe that I can or believe that I can’t.

“So I have just been really focusing on myself. I really believe that now I have the maturity and ability to do it. Regardless of what happens on Saturday, I’m really proud of how I have been handling the last few weeks.”

She’ll face the winner of the second US Open women’s semifinal between Aryna Sabalenka and fellow American Madison Keys.

Advertising