Tennis sensation Coco Gauff got a new coach, a new adviser, and now the biggest win of her relatively short but dynamic career.
As the world’s No. 7 player, Gauff, 19, resoundingly vanquished her opponent, No. 4 Maria Sakkari of Greece, 6-2, 6-3, at the Mubadala Citi DC Open on Sunday.
This represents an emphatic comeback from Gauff’s shocking and embarrassing opening-round loss at the Wimbledon Grand Slam in June. This was also Gauff’s first tournament win on American soil.
Furthermore, Gauff became the youngest player to win the tournament and became the first woman to win four titles before the age of 20 since Caroline Wozniacki accomplished the feat in 2009.
After being unceremoniously dismissed early from Wimbledon, the Gauff family hired former Spanish tennis pro, Pere Riba, and added consultant Brad Gilbert, who had coached American champions Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick.
“After losing in first round of Wimbledon, it was a tough situation and [I needed] a lot of prayer and a lot of support from my church family,” she said on the court after capturing the title, according to ESPN. “So thank you to [God] and those who support me.”
Gauff is still a teenager, yet she has been playing long enough to enter a stretch where she has been floundering recently with her return serve and forehand. The quick and conspicuous improvement in those areas is putting her future opponents on notice as we near the last grand slam of the season, the U.S. Open, which commences in late August.
Gauff won her second title of the year after winning the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, in January by trouncing Spanish player Rebeka Masarova 6-1, 6-1 in the final.
