LET COCOMANIA TAKE OVER AS GAUFF WINS AND WANTS “HOPE” IN A COMMUNITY
She has won two Grand Slams with a French Open victory, and as we survey the tennis world, Gauff has succeeded Serena Williams as America’s sparkling hope and aims to bring “light” for Black people
She is all we have in American tennis, after Serena and Venus, after Sampras and Agassi, after Evert and Navratilova, after McEnroe and Connors, after Billie Jean and Bobby Riggs, and just after the frightful beginnings of pickleball. Coco Gauff won her second Grand Slam title Saturday, beating the Belarusian demon Aryna Sabalenka at Roland-Garros. Better, she sobbed intensely following a three-set victory, placing her hand atop her heart during the national anthem.
The French loved the Floridian at their Open. “You guys were cheering for me so hard, and I don’t know what I did to deserve so much love from the French crowd,” Gauff said. “But I appreciate you, guys.”
Two weeks ago, some of us commended the tournament for not using women during night matches, when spectators pay more money at Court-Philippe Chatrier. The “better matches” are found in the men’s tournament, said president Gilles Moretton. When we have been watching Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, he was right at the time. Today, I apologize to Gauff, who still was stuck on one major championship.
Now she has two, at age 21. She has survived Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, who had won four straight titles in Paris. How many more are coming? Speaking to her parents, Corey and Candi, Gauff said, “You guys do all for me from washing my clothes, to keep me grounded and give me the belief. Thanks and I love you guys. Honestly, I didn’t think I could do it, but I am going to quote Tyler the Creator right here. He said: ‘If I ever told you I had a doubt inside me, I must be lying.’ I think I was lying to myself, because I could do it. This is the one I really wanted.”
This was the victory her country had awaited since Serena Williams retired. Gauff overcame Sabalenka’s massive power strokes by playing smarter and making fewer errors. Six years ago, she had stunned Venus Williams at Wimbledon. For a time, the sport was consumed by what we called Cocomania. She followed through with dreams. “I want to be the greatest,” she said. “My dad told me that I could do this when I was 8. Obviously you never believe it. I'm still, like, not percent confident. But, like, you have to just say things. You never know what happens."
It’s happening because she grew up — she has her first adult boyfriend, musician Jalen Sera — and because of her mental strength. Sabalenka folded under pressure, when she makes faces at the crowd and shouts at her coaches. After the match, she praised Gauff as a fighter. “This will hurt so much. Coco, congrats. In tough conditions you were a better player than me,” she said. “Well done, great two weeks, and congrats on the second Grand Slam, it’s well deserved.”
Then she expressed regret to her team. “I’m sorry for this terrible final. Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played. Anyway, thank you everyone. Thank you. As always, I’ll come back stronger.”
But so will Gauff. She has started her own management firm, cutting ties with an agency run by Roger Federer and Tony Godsick. “From the moment I first picked up a racket, I have always believed my purpose extended far beyond the court,” she said. “I want to make an impact — not just in tennis, but in business, philanthropy and beyond.”
So young, so adept, she grasps the ongoing turmoil in America. When Donald Trump won the presidential election, she asked people to “replace anxiety” with prayer. “Allow yourself to feel how you feel during tough times, especially today,” she wrote. “Just lean on God with your concerns. He is the highest power. Remember that.”
Saturday, she had more to say as a rising Black athlete. “There's a lot going on in our country right now with things,” Gauff said. “But to be able to be a representation of that, and a representation of — I guess people that look like me in America who maybe don't feel as supported during this time period. And so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people.”
Last summer, Barbora Krejčíková won Wimbledon. Sabalenka reached the semifinals twice but never has won a title. Swiatek once reached the quarterfinals. If Gauff wins next month at Centre Court? Tyler the Creator dropped her name in a song: “Thought I Was Dead.”
Expect Serena to add something else: Cocomania should reign again.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.