Gauff realising her dreams via Beyonce, Bieber and Katara Premium

Gauff has learned from her idols and wants to continue their legacy, while having fun playing just as the 8-year-old Gauff did.

Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff is not your average American teenager. Or is she?

The 19-year-old copes with stress and pressure situations in a match by thinking of Beyonce, and if she spots Justin Bieber in the crowd, it isn’t the day any opponent can get through her.

She’s a waterbender like Katara from the Avatar series, can shapeshift herself according to what her opponent has on offer. Case in point, Aryna Sabalenka, the world number one Gauff overcame to win her first Grand Slam and that too in front of home audience.

New York. The ‘concrete jungle’ where her dreams began almost a decade ago and has shaped up remarkably well.

The newly crowned US Open champion picked up the tennis racquet when she was six. She developed as an aggressive player with a big serve just like her idols, the Williams sisters.

However, on Saturday, it wasn’t the aggressive Gauff that won at the Flushing Meadows, but someone who was sure of her defence and has clarity over what needs to be done.

“I was just trying to stay in the match. I knew she (Sabalenka) was going to go out there swinging, and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to win this match the way I like to play,” Gauff said in the post-match press conference.