Revealed! Which tennis player has won the most Grand Slam titles?
TennisCoco Gauff Joins Serena Williams, Austin in List of Female American Teens to Win US Open in Open Era
- Tracy Austin won the US Open twice as a teenager in the 1979 and 1981 editions
- Serena Williams won her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open at the age of 17
- Coco Gauff became the third female American teen to win the US Open
Coco Gauff is finally a Grand Slam champion.
She made history on Saturday, becoming the third female American teenager to win the US Open in the Open era after her come-from-behind victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
Sports Brief looks at this exclusive list and the legends that Gauff has just joined.
Tracy Austin (1979, 1981)
American fans had high expectations for Austin entering the 1979 US Open.
She had ended Chris Evert's 125-match winning streak on clay earlier that year by beating her in three sets in the Italian Open semi-final.
She also came close to winning her first major at the 1979 Wimbledon Championships, reaching the semis before losing to Martina Navratilova.
Austin lived up to the hype in New York, beating second-seeded Navratilova in the semi-finals and top-seed Evert in the final to become the youngest-ever US Open champion.
She won the title at the age of 16 years, eight months, and 28 days.
Austin captured the US Open again in 1981, beating fourth-seeded Navratilova in an epic three-set final.
She came back from a set down to win her second US Open title, recording a 1-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4) over Navratilova.
It was Austin’s third and last Grand Slam title as her illustrious tennis career was unfortunately cut short by injuries.
Serena Williams (1999)
It took 18 years before another American teen won the US Open Women’s Singles title.
Fans will never forget Williams’ memorable run to the title in 1999 as she became the first African-American woman in the Open era to win a Grand Slam singles crown.
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TennisShe had to beat several Grand Slam champions just to reach the US Open final that year, with Williams defeating Kim Clijsters, Conchita Martínez, Monica Seles, and reigning champ Lindsay Davenport in succession.
Her final test came against world No. 1 Martina Hingis, and she passed it with flying colors.
Serena defeated the Swiss star in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 (4), to win the first of her 23 Grand Slam titles, per the BBC.
She won the 1999 US Open at the age of 17 years, 11 months, and 15 days.
Coco Gauff (2023)
Gauff proved the doubters wrong with her title run at the 2023 US Open, becoming the third American teenager to win the Women’s Singles title in New York, per Tennis.com.
She battled back from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, in the final for the first Grand Slam title of her young career.
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AthleticsThe Florida native had to dig deep in this tournament as she went the distance to beat Laura Siegemund, Elise Mertens, and Caroline Wozniacki in the early rounds.
Her confidence grew after those tough battles, recording straight-set wins over Jelena Ostapenko in the quarter-finals and Karolina Muchova in the semis.
Gauff wasn’t going to be denied in the final as she handed Sabalenka her first defeat at a hard-court major this year.
She won the 2023 US Open at the age of 19 years, five months, and 27 days.
Djokovic vs Medvedev preview
Sports Brief recently previewed the Men’s Singles final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev.
They booked their spots in the championship match after beating Ben Shelton and Carlos Alcaraz in the semis.
Djokovic and Medvedev faced each other in the 2021 US Open final, with the latter prevailing in straight sets.