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Coco Gauff says Serena and Venus Williams are the reason she has won the US Open.<\/p>\n
American teenager Gauff picked up her first grand slam title at her home major, coming from a set down to beat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-3 6-2.<\/p>\n
Gauff\u2019s father Corey used to take his young daughter to Flushing Meadows to watch the Williams sisters in action.<\/p>\n
And the gilded duo, with eight US Open titles between them, inspired an eight-year-old Gauff, filmed dancing in the stands inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, to follow in their footsteps.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s crazy. I mean, they\u2019re the reason why I have this trophy, to be honest,\u201d said Gauff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have allowed me to believe in this dream, you know, growing up. You know, there wasn\u2019t too many black tennis players dominating the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was literally, at that time when I was younger, it was just them that I can remember.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously more came because of their legacy. So it made the dream more believable. But all the things that they had to go through, they made it easier for someone like me to do this.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, you look back at the history with Indian Wells with Serena (when she was booed in 2001), all she had to go through, Venus fighting for equal pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s just, like, it\u2019s crazy and it\u2019s an honour to be in that same kind of line-up as them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gauff\u2019s day of destiny saw her\u00a0became the first American teenager to triumph at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 1999.<\/p>\n
The latter\u2019s final farewell to tennis at the same championships last year left a colossal void in tennis in the US.<\/p>\n
So it felt entirely appropriate that Gauff, the heir apparent to the 23-time grand slam winner, stepped into her shoes 12 months later.<\/p>\n
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Gauff used her acceptance speech to thank \u201cthe people who didn\u2019t believe in me\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old was at a low ebb after losing in the first round at Wimbledon, but she has since won 18 of her past 19 matches and picked up three titles, including the big one in the Big Apple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would say for sure a little bit after the Wimbledon loss, honestly I just felt people were like, \u2018oh, she\u2019s hit her peak and she\u2019s done\u2019. It was all hype,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see the comments. People don\u2019t think I see it but I see it. I\u2019m very aware of tennis Twitter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly after that, I was like, OK, I have a lot of work to do. So I think this means a lot to me. I wish I could give this trophy to my past self so she can be, like, all those tears are for this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n