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September 10, 2023,
She had to do what no female tennis player has done this entire 2023 US Open tournament.
Withstand the hard hitting of Aryna Sabalenka.
The number 6 player in the world, Coco Gauff did just that.
Though, it wasn’t easy.
She lost the first set 2-6, and like her previous contemporaries, initially appeared to have no answers for the blasting power of Aryna.
Showing her new level of maturity, compared to where she has at times crumbled in the past, the American changed her tactics and became a human backboard and phenomenal counter puncher.
She also improved on the placement of her forehand, which helped propel her to 6-3 and 6-2 winning scores in the next two sets, to win her first major title in front of the boisterous New York crowd, famous for willing the American stars to victory.
The milestone brought her to tears as, after the match, she walked up into the stands to thank and hug her team for their support.
Coco is the youngest American to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 1999 and the first American player to win a major title since Sofia Kenin’s amazing run during the 2020 Australian Open.
After two hours and six minutes, Coco was ready to hold the trophy.
Previous to this match, Aryna almost seemed unstoppable, worthy of her soon to be number one ranking.
In the semi-final against another American, Madison Keys, in the beginning, it looked like Aryna would come nowhere near a final appearance. Madison was making one great shot after another while Aryna was missing them.
How badly?
She lost the first set 0-6.
The reigning 2023 Australian Open champion gathered herself and came back to win the next two sets 7-6 (7-1), 7-6 (10-5) on Thursday night.
Madison was determined to send Aryna to the exits, came close, but just couldn’t finish it.
As an example, she served for the match at 5-4 in the second set but couldn’t close it out.
It was then that Aryna looked like a revitalized player.
Madison rallied herself to a 4-2 lead in the third and final set but Aryna steadied herself and hit one hard winner after another to overwhelm Madison.
As we watched the match, it appeared that the only person who could beat Aryna, was Aryna.
She appeared to be way too strong for Madison, who could only hope that Aryna would go off the rails again because when she keeps her sizzling ground strokes on or within the lines, Madison simply had no answer for it, though she tried mightily.
Give Madison credit for that.
In times past, she was noteworthy for going off into space and making one unforced error after another, but that was not the case today. She played extremely well against a player who, for the moment, was just too good for her.
In Coco Gauff’s semi-final match against the Czech Republic star Karolina Muchova, she played at a very high level, and was most determined to win. That was evident during one game where there was a 40 shot, back and forth struggle, that Coco finally won, that helped to cement Coco’s victory.
The only thing that slowed her down was when the match was delayed for 50 minutes by environmental activists, one of whom glued his bare feet to the concrete floor in the stands.
Once the match resumed, Coco went back to business as though nothing had happened.
The 19 year old stayed the course and soundly defeated Karolina in 2 sets, 6-4, 7-5 to surge into the final against Aryna.
As we look back on the 2023 US Open, it seems to have played out to form, with few major upsets. No qualifiers racing through to the finals like the 2021 Open.
In 2022, possibly the great Serena Williams last US Open, she brought an excitement and electricity to the New York affair seldom seen.
This year, Caroline Wozniacki’s comeback tour was a thing to marvel at and deeply appreciate.
The Danish star battled her way into the round of 16, before succumbing to the eventual champion in Coco.
It has been 3-1/2 years since Caroline retired and boy does she know how to make a comeback.
The 33-year-old made her return last month at the Canadian Open and recorded one win in two tournaments before arriving in New York. But during the US Open, she clearly found her form.
A two-time finalist, Caroline defeated the No. 11 seed and two-time major champion Petra Kvitova in the second round in a stunning match sending a strong message to the tennis world that her comeback was no fluke.
In the third round she came back to defeat American Jennifer Brady 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in front of a passionate New York crowd, to advance to the fourth round.
The irony for us was that when she was in the heart of her career, it was hard to respect that she was the number one player for so long without winning a Grand Slam, which she finally did.
Her resume was incredible though.
She was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 71 weeks, including at the end of 2010 and 2011.
She achieved the top ranking for the first time on October 11, 2010, becoming the 20th player in the Open Era and the first from a Scandinavian country to hold the top position.
In 2018, she became the first Dane to win a major singles title, at the Australian Open.
So, this time around, something told us to enjoy Caroline’s return, in a way that we never appreciated her tennis before.
We certainly do now.
The one major disappointment at the tournament was the world number three, Jessica Pegula exiting in the round of 16. Previously, her ceiling was making it to the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam, but this year, even that was not to be.
During the 2023 Australian Open, back in January of this year, there was much talk, including from us, that Jessica might finally break through and win a major. So may stars either didn’t play, like Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams or exited earlier, like America’s Daniel Collins and the former number one player, Iga Swiatek.
What more did she want? It was as though the sea parted. All she had to do was walk through it.
Then she met Victoria Azarenka and was completely flattened 4-6, 1-6.
Victoria’s greatest results were almost a decade ago, a former world No. 1 in singles, having claimed the top ranking for the first time on January 30, 2012.
That seemed to say everything.
And the worst part about it, just like losing here, in the 2023 US Open to Madison Keys in straight sets 1-6, 3-6, no one appeared to be talking about Jessica winning this year’s Open.
Or any other major in the near future.
Even before the loss to Madison.
Now, those topics of discussion are regarding Coco Gauff, who at 19, not only has a great all-around game, but the continual maturation and court savvy to give one the impression that she is just beginning.
That discussion also centers on Aryna Sabalenka, the new world number one, with massive fire power to go along with it.
When the US Open comes around, it is so special, marking the end of the major slams for the year.
This one was very special as well.
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OPENING PHOTO Shutterstock-lev-radin-photo-credit-Editorial-use Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/38362953/coco-gauff-tops-aryna-sabalenka-win-us-open
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caroline_Wozniacki
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/38309964/caroline-wozniacki-back-fire-us-open
https://www.fciwomenswrestling2.com
https://www.fcielitecompetitor.com/
https://fciwomenswrestling.com/
