“No.1 around the corner!” Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rick Macci believes sky is the limit for Coco Gauff ahead of the US Open final
Macci was full of praise for the young American tennis star.
Coco Gauff and Rick Macci (Credits: IMAGO)
6th seed Coco Gauff managed to keep her nerves in check during a chaotic night session at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday. The American teen defeated the 10th seed Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 to book a spot in her first final at the US Open. This will be her second Grand Slam final appearance after reaching the final of the French Open in 2022.
Gauff became the youngest American women’s player to make the semi-finals of Grand Slams on multiple occasions since Serena Williams made the semi-finals of the US Open 1999 and Wimbledon 2000 after her quarter-final wins against Jelena Ostapenko. Inevitably, the American teen has drawn comparisons with the 23-time Grand Slam champion. Serena’s ex-coach, Rick Macci, is onboard the Gauff hype train too, as he showered praise on the young American.
The tennis coach shared a post on ‘X’ captioned,” The sky is the limit for Coco Gauff because when you have that much athletic ability and heart you can beat anybody anytime anywhere. Number one around the corner.”
The 19-year-old is on an 11-match winning streak and has won 17 of her last 18 matches. She headed into the US Open on the back of a successful North American hard-court swing. Gauff won the Washington Open earlier this month, beating Maria Sakkari in the final. It was her first WTA 500 singles title. The American followed it up with her first WTA 1000 title at the Cincinnati Masters. This was her biggest singles title to date.
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Coco Gauff to face Aryna Sabalenka for the US Open title showdown at the Arthur Ashe Stadium
Standing in the way between Coco Gauff and her first Grand Slam title is the newly crowned World No. 1, Aryna Sabalenka. The Australian Open champion got the better of 2017 US Open finalist Madison Keys to reach her first US Open final. The 2nd seed defeated the 17th-seeded American 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(5) to reach her second Grand Slam final this year.
With the win, Sabalenka improved her year-end Grand Slam record to 23-2. She will become the World’s No. 1 for the first time after the end of the US Open. The Belarusian would expect a hostile crowd on Saturday as she plays the home crowd favorite. “I’m still hoping that probably some of them will be supporting me. Just a little bit. Just sometimes, please,“ Sabalenka said in the post-match press conference.
Tickets for the match are available on the US Open’s official website. Ticket prices for the women’s finals start at $350. The most expensive tickets for courtside seating reach $12,000.
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Angira D Shah
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