"We spoke till 1am": Coco Gauff used call to boyfriend to calm nerves and stop visualising US Open title before Sabalenka win

Coco Gauff revealed that she spoke with her coach late into the night to calm her nerves before the US Open final against Aryna Sabalenka.

The 19-year-old American had two dream weeks at Flushing Meadows, culminating in her first Grand Slam title with a comeback victory over Sabalenka in the final, winning 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

This marked Coco's second Grand Slam final appearance, following her defeat in the 2022 French Open final against Iga Swiatek. Gauff shared that she had overthought things in the Roland Garros final and aimed to avoid making the same mistake this time.

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"Honestly, I didn't have any of those visions till last night. You know, I thought about it, but I told myself to get it out of my head, because that's what I did at French. I was envisioning, you know, what would happen if I would win. I think I wanted it too much," Gauff said.

"Last night, I started a little bit, but honestly, I just called my boyfriend, and I told him let's talk until it's time to go to sleep so we spoke until 1:00 a.m. and then I went to sleep," she added.

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"When I lost the first set I still felt I was into the match and I said, you know, I'm going to give it my all. Even on that match point, 40-Love, technically the match was on my racket. It didn't feel like I had won. I was just trying to just focus on the point ahead of me," Coco Gauff concluded.

Starting Monday, the 19-year-old will achieve the highest ranking of her career, becoming the new world No. 3, trailing only Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek. Additionally, she secured her spot in the WTA Finals, where, along with the aforementioned players, Elena Rybakina is also guaranteed to participate.

Coco Gauff

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