Incredible Gauff caps dream week on home soil, overcomes Sabalenka in thrilling US Open final to secure her first Grand Slam title

Coco Gauff maintained her composure and came from a set down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, securing her first Grand Slam title at the US Open.

Perhaps the perfect final that could have unfolded in the women's draw. On one side was the crowd favorite, Coco Gauff, who is currently experiencing the best moment of her career with two titles in the last month and a remarkable 17-1 record since the start of the hardcourt swing.

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The American defeated world No. 10 Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals. On the other side was the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who had confidently claimed during the week that she would become the new world No. 1 for the first time in her career after Swiatek's defeat.

The first set began in the worst possible way for Gauff, losing her serve in the first game, and Sabalenka took a 2-0 lead on her serve. Coco recovered the next two games to level the score, capitalizing on her second break point opportunity.

From there, the Belarusian was superior in crucial moments, winning the next four games, including two breaks, to take the set 6-2.

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Sabalenka played aggressively, hitting 8 winners but committing 14 unforced errors. Gauff was mostly playing from a defensive position, conceding the initiative to her opponent, and recorded only three winners against 10 unforced errors, most of them from her forehand side.

Sabalenka tried to play deep to avoid giving Gauff opportunities to attack and approached the net 8 times, winning only 50% of the points.

In the second set, Gauff didn't lose her concentration and reacted by breaking in the fourth game. She later extended her lead to 4-1 on her serve. Although Sabalenka defended her next two service games successfully, Gauff remained steady and held her own service game to take the set 6-3.

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In the third set, Sabalenka started losing control against Gauff's strong defense. Her shots became less effective, leading to several unforced errors. The American teenager secured two consecutive breaks and didn't hesitate on her own serve to go up 4-0 in just 22 minutes.

Gauff had the dream week of her career, becoming the fourth American in the 21st century to secure the title, the first since 2017, and will become world No. 3 starting Monday.

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