Coco Gauff Becomes 1st American Teenager to Reach US Open Semis Since Serena Williams

Coco Gauff is two wins away from her first grand-slam title after a dominant 6-0, 6-2 win over Jelena Ostapenko in the 2023 U.S. Open quarterfinals on Tuesday.

ESPN Stats & Info noted Gauff is the first American teenager to reach the U.S. Open semifinals since Serena Williams in 2001.

Gauff was one of five American-born players (men and women) who reached the quarterfinals, most in the U.S. Open since 2017. That was also the last time an American woman won this tournament (Sloane Stephens).

This is already the best season of Gauff's young career. She has 39 singles match wins and three tournament victories. The Florida native had more singles titles in 2023 than she had in the previous four years combined (two).

A Grand Slam title is the only thing Gauff hasn't won this year. She reached the quarterfinals at the French Open before losing to No. 1 seed Iga Świątek in straight sets.

Gauff's previous best finish at the U.S. Open was a quarterfinal appearance last year. She lost in straight sets to Caroline Garcia.

In addition to her singles run, Gauff is also chasing a doubles title with partner Jessica Pegula. They will take on Su-Wei Hsieh and Wang Xinyu in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The last player to win a singles and doubles title in the same year was Serena Williams in 1999. That was her first-ever grand-slam singles title at the age of 18.

There have been a total of 23 players, men and women, who won their first career Grand Slam singles championship as a teenager. Carlos Alcaraz is the most recent one to accomplish the feat when he beat Casper Ruud in the U.S. Open final last year.

Gauff, who entered this tournament as the No. 6 seed, is the second-highest ranked player still playing behind No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. She will play the winner of tonight's Sorana Cîrstea-Karolína Muchová matchup in the semifinal on Thursday.