Coco Gauff is making waves on American soil.
The 19-year-old American, who is ranked No. 7 in the world, won the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Sunday after defeating No. 17 Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-4.
The Cincinnati title is Gauff’s third of the season and her first WTA 1000 title, having won tournaments in both Auckland and Washington D.C. previously this year.
She becomes the first teenager to capture five career titles since Caroline Wozniacki in 2009.
“This is unbelievable,” she said after the match. “Especially after everything I went through earlier in the summer. I’m just happy to be here. I would like to thank my lord and savior Jesus Christ. I spent a lot of nights alone crying, trying to figure it out, and I still have a lot to figure out, but I thank him for covering me.”
The Florida native, who made the Round of 16 at Wimbledon at just 15 years old in 2019, had a rough showing in London this summer, getting knocked out in the first round by Sofia Kenin.
But Gauff appears to have rebounded with a rollicking summer performance at the Mubadal Citi D.C. Open and in Cincinnati, where she defeated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinal.
Following her loss at Wimbledon, Gauff has won 11 of her last 12 matches, which has coincided with the introduction of a new coach, Brad Gilbert, who also helped Andy Roddick win the 2003 U.S. Open and reach the 2004 Wimbledon final.
Roddick called Gilbert, who also coached Andre Agassi, a coaching “genius” on Tennis Channel earlier this week.
Gauff will now look to continue her stretch of hard-court dominance at the U.S. Open, the last major tournament on the horizon this year.
Her best performance at the U.S. Open was a quarterfinal berth, which she reached last year.
