GAUFF THE AMBASSADOR BECOMES HEAD’S NEWEST GRAND SLAM CHAMPION

Women’s tennis has a new major champion – and she joins the impressive list of HEAD ambassadors to lift one of tennis’s four Grand Slam trophies.

Coco Gauff on Saturday became the latest teenager to win a Grand Slam title, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final. It completes a remarkable apprenticeship for the 19-year-old American, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2019 aged just 15.

Such early success created expectations for Gauff, whose progress over the past four years has been gradual. For a while her doubles exploits surpassed her singles results – she reached No 1 in the doubles rankings in August 2022; in June 2022 she reached her first Grand Slam finals (singles and doubles) at Roland-Garros; four weeks ago she won her first tour-level title on American soil; and now in her second major final, she has joined the Grand Slam roll of honour.

“Rarely has the term ‘ambassador’ been more appropriate than in describing Coco Gauff,” said Ottmar Barbian, executive vice-president of HEAD’s racquet sports division. “As well as being an inspirational tennis player, Coco is eloquent beyond her years. We are immensely proud to count her as a member of the global HEAD family.”

Gauff had plenty of obstacles to claim her first major title in New York. Playing in punishing heat and humidity, the native of Delray Beach, Florida, dropped three sets en route to the quarter-finals, and then had to endure a 50-minute disruption in her semi-final against fellow HEAD ambassador Karolína Muchová.

Gauff’s recent run of form, that saw her win titles in Washington, Cincinnati and New York, followed a slight reshaping of her coaching team, notably the addition of the former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick, Brad Gilbert, alongside her main coach, Pere Riba. The result has been a more all-court style of play, that allowed her for instance to win a 41-stroke rally in the final game against Muchová.

Gauff, who endorses the HEAD Boom range of racquets, burst onto the scene in June 2019 by beating Venus Williams on the Centre Court at Wimbledon, and has since impressed a broader audience by speaking out on social issues. She will rise to a career-high ranking of third when the post-US Open rankings are published on Monday.