Coco Gauff made the list of the youngest American women’s tennis players to win the US Open. On September 10th Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka. In the last few minutes of the final match, the score being 40 – 0, Sabalekna missed Gauff’s hit. Gauff falls to the ground in tears. 

At 19 she just took home the win in women’s singles which has not been done since Serena Williams in 1999. The girl’s tennis team has players who have been following Coco Gauff and her journey. From beating Caty McNally only days after turning 15 to winning the US Open.

 The girls on the Platte County team admire the accomplishments of a professional player their age but are not after that same level of competitiveness 

“It is always cool to see such young women to be so successful in this sport. I’m looking forward to seeing where she goes from here,” Senior Delaney Bachman says. 

In 1999 Serena Williams won her first grand slam at 19. We now have Gauff at 19 winning again. Though there is a gap between now and then, that does not take away from her accomplishments. She won against Venus at just 15 in June of 2019. There are many young players in tennis but not many are on live television being broadcasted to millions of people around the world. The players you hear about the most are ages 20-40s. They can still give inspiration but a teen seeing another meet such a big goal is motivating and encouraging. Especially girls her age. The players who are new to the sport even know about her victory and it reflects on their own career as a young player. 

“It inspires me to work harder because she is only a couple of years older than me and made such a huge accomplishment,” said senior Julia Greco, a first-time player.

Gauff’s win shows that it is not your age that determines what you can do but your motivation to get up and just work. She continues saying “Usually I see those types of accomplishments as something only older people can do, but she just proved any age can.”