Call Coco the Comeback Kid: Gauff wins US Open debut at 15

Published 8:12 am Wednesday, August 28, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff is quickly becoming the Comeback Kid.

Just 15, she doesn’t seem to find any deficit too daunting. She demonstrated that in her U.S. Open debut Tuesday night, much like she did at Wimbledon last month.

With her parents jumping out of their front-row seats and a raucous partisan crowd backing her at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Gauff trailed by a set and a break, then again by a break in the third set, before getting past Anastasia Potapova of Russia 3-6, 6-2, 6-4.

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“I was trying to calm myself down,” Gauff said in her on-court interview. “I was almost out.”

That she was. But similar to the way she saved match points in a Centre Court match at the All England Club during her captivating run to the fourth round there, Gauff did not give in or give up.

All along the way, her mother and father were clapping and yelling, celebrating nearly every point their daughter claimed.

“I think I gave them a heart attack, especially my mom,” Gauff said. “And my dad, he looks a little bit tired over there, too.”