US Open 2023 Final: Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka preview head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (6) Coco Gauff vs (2) Aryna Sabalenka
Date: September 9, 2023
Tournament: US Open 2023
Round: Final
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York, United States
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $65,000,000
Live telecast: USA - ESPN | Canada - TSN | UK - Sky Sports | India - Sony Sports
Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka preview
Sixth seed Coco Gauff will face second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final on Saturday.
Despite a few tight encounters, Gauff has managed to book her place in the semifinals of the New York Major with wins over Laura Siegemund, Mirra Andreeva, 32nd seed Elise Mertens, Caroline Wozniacki and 20th seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Here, she faced tenth seed Karolina Muchova and raced to a 5-1 lead in the first set. The Czech saved a set point and reduced the deficit to 5-4. Gauff eventually took the set 6-4 to take the lead in the match. The second set was tightly contested and Muchova saved five points before the American won it 7-5 to book her place in the US Open final.
Aryna Sabalenka entered the New York Major seeded second and registered straight-set wins over Maryna Zanevska, Jodie Burrage, Clara Burel, Daria Kasatkina, and Qinwen Zheng to reach the semifinals.
Here, she was up against 17th seed Madison Keys and got off to a horrible start, as the American bageled her in the first set. The second set saw a few breaks and Keys served for the match at 5-4. However, Sabalenka broke her and took the set to a tiebreak which she went on to win 7-1 to force the match into a decider.
The deciding set saw Keys break in the sixth game before the Belarusian broke back immediately after. She later saved two break points and took the set to a tiebreak, which she dominated and won 10-5 to reach her second Grand Slam final.
Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka head-to-head
Gauff leads 3-2 in the head-to-head against Sabalenka. The last meeting between the two came in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, with the Belarusian winning 6-4, 6-0.
Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka odds
(All odds are sourced from BETMGM)
Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka prediction
Aryna Sabalenka's form throughout the season, her crushing win over Coco Gauff in their previous encounter, and her performance under pressure against Madison Keys might give her the edge entering the match.
However, Gauff has shown a lot of composure and fighting spirit lately, and she has been able to get things done since the addition of Brad Gilbert to her team. The American has served 24 aces so far throughout the US Open and will look to fetch as many free points as she can against Sabalenka.
Gauff has won 162 out of 231 points on her first serve (70.1%) and hit 150 winners so far. However, she also produced 158 unforced errors and will have to be careful not to hit too many of those against someone like Sabalenka.
The 19-year-old has played quite aggressively and her agility and stamina, besides her serve and groundstrokes, will come in handy while dealing with the Belarusian's intensity.
Sabalenka has a very strong serve that has fetched her 32 aces so far during the US Open. The 25-year-old has been a tad stronger than Gauff on her first serve, winning 74.4% of her points (160 out of 215). She has also hit 133 winners compared to a relatively lower count of 116 unforced errors.
She has also been very solid at the net, winning 66 out of 87 points (75.9%) there. The Belarusian will look to be as aggressive as she can and put pressure on Gauff from the start of the match.
While both players are terrific and have the game to come out on top, eventually it will boil down to who is mentally stronger. Sabalenka showed her grit under pressure during her semifinal against Keys and came up clutch when needed.
Gauff, of late, has shown a lot of fighting spirit against tough opponents, notably against Iga Swiatek, and her mentality looks stronger. That combined with the crowd support might just about see her edge out Sabalenka and win her first Grand Slam title.
Pick: Gauff to win in three sets.