COCO GAUFF became the first American teenager to capture a grand slam singles title this century, sweeping aside Aryna Sabalenka in just over two hours at Flushing Meadows on Saturday night to lift the US Open.

The 19-year-old American ace, cheered on by a plethora of A-listers under the closed roof on the Arthur Ashe Stadium, picked off the points with aplomb after a wobbly opening set to extend her unbeaten streak to 12 matches.

This was a complete transformation of Gauff, who bowed out with a whimper at Wimbledon. She has bounced back on the WTA Tour to scoop a hat-trick of prestigious titles on the North American hard courts, and in a remarkable 39 days has finally won her maiden grand slam title.

Following her 1st round loss to compatriot Sofia Kenin at the All England Club in July, Gauff installed former American ATP Tour star Brad Gilbert as a part-time consultant to tackle the North American season.

Gilbert, who has coached a number of men to grand slam crowns, joined forces with Spaniard Pere Riba and the pair seem to be the dream team as far as Gauff is concerned.

The coaching duo guided Gauff to milestone triumphs. She lifted her first WTA 500 title by winning in Washington DC, then followed it up with her maiden WTA 1000 crown by triumphing in Cincinnati.

Yet the ultimate prize was clinching the US Open, which will propel her to world no.3 on Monday. Finally she has fulfilled her potential that she showed as a 15-year-old qualifier at Wimbledon.

Australian Open champion Sabalenka, who will take over the world no.1 ranking from Pole Iga Swiatek, ran away with the opening set. The 25-year-old Belarusian slammed down eight winners and broke her nervous-looking opponent three times to seize control.

With Gauff losing four games on the bounce to concede the first set, she looked on the ropes and about to suffer a hefty defeat like her 2023 French Open reversal to Iga Swiatek.

Yet this was a new and improved tenacious teenager, thanks to the input of Gilbert, and Gauff had already won a trio of three set matches in New York to reach the final.

Her speed across the court and forcing more rallies out of Sabalenka gave Gauff the upper hand with new tactics employed for the second set. However, it was a close encounter, with the American collecting the only break for a 3-1 lead. She held her nerve to save three break points, before snatching the set to force a decider.

The momentum was with Gauff, relentlessly cheered on by both the patriotic supporters and the long list of celebrities, as she soared into a 4-0 lead that calmed her nerves.

Battling Sabalenka held her serve and finally broke Gauff to haul back the score to 4-2. Yet Gauff, having introduced tighter angled shots throughout the third set, seemed unstoppable. She immediately broke back to lead 5-2 with her first grand slam crown within her grasp.

Gauff brilliantly served out the match to love, clinching her maiden grand slam with a passing winner that made the entire stadium erupt with delight but brought tears of joy to the youngster.

The champion raced to the suite where her father and former coach Corey was watching, sobbed into his arms before her mother Candi joined with the trio soon all in tears.

Gauff, the first American teenager to win the US Open singles title since Serena Williams’ 1999 success, told the Centre Court crowd: “Thank you to the people who didn’t believe in me.

“A month ago I won a [WTA] 500 title, and people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago, I won a [WTA] 1000 title and people were saying that was the biggest I was going to get.

“And three weeks later I’m here with this trophy. I’ve tried my best to carry myself with grace, but those who thought they were putting water in my fire, you were adding gas to it and I’m really burning bright right now.”