"They always knew you were so special" - 'Wonder Woman' Lynda Carter reacts to Coco Gauff celebrating US Open triumph with her parents
Former Miss World Lynda Carter penned some heartfelt words of encouragement after seeing Coco Gauff celebrate her Grand Slam win at the US Open while surrounded by her proud parents.
Gauff pulled off a sensational comeback win over World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday to capture the first Major title of her career. With the triumph, the 19-year-old moved up four places in the WTA rankings; she is currently the new World No. 3.
Lynda Carter, known for her role as Wonder Woman in the 1970s, gushed about Gauff's inspirational win on social media. She reacted to a picture posted by the youngster celebrating the victory with her parents, while also sharing a throwback moment.
"The looks on their faces. They always knew you were so special," Lynda Carter wrote on her Twitter account.
Gauff has frequently credited her success to the unconditional support of her parents, Candi and Corey Gauff.
The American first gained attention at age 15, when she defeated her idol Venus Williams at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. Her career has taken off since then, but her family has remained her constant support system.
Her father, in particular, encouraged Gauff's tennis dreams right from a young age. After winning the US Open, the 19-year-old thanked her parents for always believing in her. She also spoke about watching the US Open as a young girl with her father.
"Thank you, first, to my parents. Today was the first time I've ever seen my dad cry," Coco said during her on-court interview. "Thank you guys, you believed in me from the beginning. My dad took me to this tournament. [I watched] Venus and Serena compete, so it's really incredible to be on this stage."
“We spoke until 1 am” – Coco Gauff called her boyfriend to help get her mind off the US Open final
On Friday, Coco Gauff stayed up late into the night engaged in conversation with her boyfriend to keep her thoughts from wandering into the possible outcomes of the US Open final.
The American learned from her experience in last year's French Open final, where she lost to Iga Swiatek. She acknowledged the fact that she overthought and overwhelmed herself while envisioning the win in Paris, and hence took a different approach this time.
"Honestly, I didn't have any of those visions till last night," Coco Gauff said during her post-match press conference. "You know, I thought about it, but I told myself to get it out of my head because that's what I did at the French Open. I was envisioning, you know, what would happen if I would win. I think I wanted it too much."
Gauff spoke to her boyfriend on the phone till 1 a.m. before the final, which helped stop herself from mentally preparing too much for the championship clash.
"Last night, I started a little bit, but honestly, I just called my boyfriend, and I told him let's talk until it's time to go to sleep so we spoke until 1:00 a.m. and then I went to sleep," she said.
Coco Gauff maintained her composure right until the very last point of the hard-fought final against Sabalenka.
"When I lost the first set I still felt I was into the match and I said, you know, I'm going to give it my all. Even on that match point, 40-Love, technically the match was on my racket. It didn't feel like I had won. I was just trying to just focus on the point ahead of me," Coco Gauff added.