Gauff Becomes First American Teenager Since Serena Williams To Reach Back-To-Back US Open Quarterfinals

Tuesday, 05 September 2023 at 02:55

byNurein Ahmed

Coco Gauff emulated her childhood idol Serena Williams in recreating history on Saturday at the 2023 US Open.

The 19-year-old Gauff defeated former WTA No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the US Open quarterfinals for the second year in a row. She has now won 15 of her last 16 matches on the women's tour, a run that includes her biggest title triumphs in Washington and Cincinnati.

But victory over the Dane sealed Gauff's place in the last eight of the New York Slam for the second year in a row, thereby becoming the first American teenager to reach back-to-back quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams, who achieved that feat in 1999-2000.

Serena won the first of her six US Opens in 1999 before her title defense ended in the quarterfinal stage a year later. Gauff did fall in the quarterfinal stage last year, but she's still in the tournament this time, and being touted as one of the favorites following the shock exit of top seed Iga Swiatek who was due to meet the young American in the last eight stage.

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If Gauff is indeed following in the footsteps of the legendary compatriot as the US Open X account captioned on her latest achievement, she'll hope that this is a good omen for her. Serena's first US Open title in 1999 when she was 18 was incidentally her first major title. Since then, she amassed 22 more Grand Slam singles crowns, cementing her place among the greatest tennis players of all time.

Gauff still has work to do to win her first Slam, with a showdown against Jelena Ostapenko looming in the last eight. She is counting on home support, calling the New York crowd incomparable to any other on the WTA Tour.

"I mean, being an American playing here, they're backing you. So, yeah, they backed me today a lot. Had some chants going on in the stadium, which was really nice. Yeah, definitely the crowd. Day and night, they're still really energetic. Obviously, the night sessions are I think even more electric. But the crowd doesn't really compare to any of the other slams."