By Andréa Butler

Coco Gauff is in her bag.

No matter what the world serves — be it unfair ump calls, online haters, or the pressure of fame — this 19-year-old Florida native stays lobbing win on win on win in return. Today, she won her first Grand Slam title against Aryna Sabalenka, making her the youngest American to win since 1999 when Serena Williams took home the trophy at age 17.

The women’s singles match went three sets, with set one going to Sabalenka. By set two, though, Coco was coming back strong, pushing through to becoming a U.S. Open champ.

After sending that point-winning volley, Coco laid out on the court, face in hands, crying tears of joy. She got up for a moment to hug her opponent, followed by more happy tears and then hugs from her parents. Besides thanking her fam, Coco also gave props to her haters. 

“Honestly, thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me. Like a month ago, I won a 500 title, and people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago, I won a thousand title, and people were saying that was the biggest it was going to get. So, three weeks later, I’m here with this trophy right now,” she said in a post-victory interview. “I tried my best to carry this with grace, and I’ve been doing my best. So, honestly, to those who thought [they were] putting water on my fire, you were really adding gas to it.”

With this win, Coco Gauff rises from the No. 6 rank to No. 3 — in the world!

Main Image (for illustrative purposes only, not from U.S. Open): Hameltion | CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons