Top 10 youngest US Open women’s champions as Coco Gauff joins the list
Coco Gauff became only the 10th teenager to win the US Open title with a tenacious win over Aryna Sabalenka in the 2023 final, but who else features on the list of youngest US Open women’s winners.
It was far from a classic Flushing Meadows final, but Gauff won’t care as she won her maiden Grand Slam title to become the 14th American woman to win a major in the Open Era and 45th overall.
Gauff became the youngest American since Serena Williams in 1999 to win the women’s title in New York, but how does she stack up against other teenage US Open winners?
10. Coco Gauff – 19 years, 5 months 27 days
Year: 2023
The 19-year-old Coco Gauff came into the US Open women’s final on the back of an 11-match winning streak, but she struggled early on against the powerful Aryna Sabalenka.
But once she got a foothold in the match, she finally came to grips with Sabalenka’s power game and came away with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory to win her maiden Grand Slam title at the age of 19 years.
Big things were expected of Gauff when she first made her major breakthrough at the age of just 15 and four years later she finally delivered.
9. Maria Sharapova – 19 years, 4 months, 24 days
Year: 2006
Just over a year after winning the 2005 Wimbledon title at the age of 17, Maria Sharapova also joined the list of teenage US Open title champions.
The 19-year-old, who ended up winning five Grand Slam over the course of her career, defeated second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne 6–4, 6–4 in the final and lost just one set en route to the title.
8. Bianca Andreescu – 19 years, 2 months, 22 days
Year: 2019
The teenaged Bianca Andreescu became the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title with a superb win over tennis great Serena Williams in the 2019 final.
She also became the first player to win the US Open in their main-draw debut as she defeated Williams 6–3, 7–5 in the showpiece match on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
7. Svetlana Kuznetsova – 19 years, 3 months, 4 days
Year: 2004
Svetlana Kuznetsova became the first Russian woman to win the US Open in 2004 while she was the third Russian woman after Anastasia Myskina and Maria Sharapova to win a major.
Seeded ninth, Kuznetsova overcame compatriot Elena Dementieva 6–3, 7–5 in the final for the first of her two Grand Slam titles with the other one coming at the 2009 French Open.
6. Steffi Graf – 19 years, 2 months, 26 days
Year: 1988
The great Steffi Graf completed a dominant Grand Slam season at the 1988 US Open as she won her fourth major title that year with a 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 victory over Gabriela Sabatini. She was the third woman to achieve the Calendar Grand Slam after Maureen Connolly and Margaret Court.
Graf went on to win gold in the singles Seoul Olympic Games to become the only player to win the Golden Slam.
5. Emma Raducanu – 18 years, 9 months, 29 days
Year: 2021
The Emma Raducanu fairytale came out of nowhere as she had to go through qualifying to reach the main draw at the US Open for the first time.
The 18-year-old British youngster won 10 matches in a row without dropping a set to become the first qualifier – man or woman – to win a Grand Slam. She won the title by beating fellow teenager Leylah Fernandez 6–4, 6–3 in the final.
4. Serena Williams – 17 years, 11 months, 15 days
Year: 1999
The 1999 US Open was where it all started for the legendary Serena Williams as she defeated Martina Hingis 6–3, 7–6 (7–4) in the final to win the first of her 23 Grand Slam titles.
The teenage Williams also became the first African-American woman to win a Grand Slam singles title in the Open Era.
3. Monica Seles – 17 years, 9 months, 5 days
Year: 1991
Monica Seles was already a three-time Grand Slam winner by the time the 1991 US Open came around and she made it four major titles by defeating the legendary Martina Navratilova 7–6 (7–1), 6–1 at Flushing Meadows.
It was her third major win that year after the Australian Open and French Open and she would end her career with nine Grand Slam trophies in total.
2. Martina Hingis – 16 years, 11 months, 8 days
Year: 1997
Martina Hingis became only the second 16-year-old to win the US Open title in 1997, but not quite the youngest.
The Swiss youngster won her third Grand Slam of the year and her career when she defeated Venus Williams 6–0, 6–4 in the final. Hingis went on to win another two majors.
1. Tracy Austin – 16 years, 8 months, 28 days
Year: 1979
It is difficult to imagine that anyone will break Tracy Austin’s record in the near future, but one can never say never.
The 16-year-old defeated the four-time defending champion Chris Evert 6–4, 6–3 to win the first of her two Grand Slam titles.
