“People were like Aryna Sabalenka is going to take her to school” – Coco Gauff satisfied that she ‘shushed her haters’ with US Open triumph

The 2023 US Open women's singles champion Coco Gauff recently stated that she proved her haters wrong by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final on Saturday, September 9.

Gauff staged a dramatic comeback to overcome Sabalenka inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium to lift her first Grand Slam trophy. Despite losing the opening set shoddily, she managed to make her opponent run out of steam in the next two sets and win the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

During the presentation ceremony that followed, the 19-year-old made a special remark on her doubters, saying:

"Honestly, thank you to the people who didn't believe in me. To those who thought were putting water on my fire, you're really adding gas to it."

She recently interacted with the WTA for an episode of Insider Podcast and discussed her first Major win. Among many things, she was asked to comment on drawing motivation from hate comments on the internet.

"Before, I would just mute all the words and not go on my account, delete the account, and all these types of things, [but] I realized that my personality is not like that. My parents know I'm stubborn and I like to prove people wrong. So the more I read it, the more it made me want to prove them wrong," Coco Gauff replied.

Gauff complained that the detractors ridiculed her achievements instead of acknowledging them.

"In D.C., I saw a tweet, 'She's only 250 Coco', I won that WTA 500 tournament in D.C. Then people were like, 'That's going to be it, it was a flop win.' Then I won the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati and people were saying I only won that because certain players weren't rested and that would never translate into a Slam," she said.

The American further stated she was pleased to silence everyone who thought Aryna Sabalenka was going to run riot in the US Open final against her.

"Before my match tonight, people were like, 'She [Sabalenka] is going to crush her. She's going to take her to school and diminish the hype.' They said I'm only hype. There is something very satisfying about shushing your haters," Coco Gauff remarked.

Coco Gauff's performances at Grand Slam tournaments in 2023

Coco Gauff lifts the US Open women's trophy.

Coco Gauff began her year with a bang as she won the ASB Classic in Auckland in January, boosting her chances of winning the Australian Open title. However, she was unable to capitalize on the momentum as she returned home from Melbourne after a fourth-round exit.

The teenager then traveled to Paris with high hopes and lived up to the hype by reaching the quarterfinals but Iga Swiatek had other plans as she trounced Gauff 6-4, 6-2 en route to a fourth Grand Slam title.

Come July, Wimbledon brought more disappointment for Coco Gauff. Seeded seventh, she suffered a setback at the hands of Sofia Kenin in her very first match of the Championships.

However, the hard courts of North America witnessed a resurgent Gauff. She made the most of her US Open preparations by outlasting every opponent she faced at the Citi Open and the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. It all culminated in her biggest title win at Flushing Meadows.