Coco Gauff was invited to be a guest at the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys game and the freshly-crowned 2023 US Open champion met Giants star Saquon Barkley. On Saturday, 19-year-old Gauff brought American women’s tennis a Grand Slam after beating Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final. The next day, the Giants were playing the Cowboys in Week 1 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday Night Football. Gauff, the new highest-ranked American female tennis player, met Barkley on the field, who is one of the biggest names on the Giants roster.
us open on saturday. football on sunday. thanks for having me @NFL pic.twitter.com/4UI4uRuluT
ā Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) September 11, 2023
Gauff accomplished a childhood dream
Gauff, who grew up looking up to Serena Williams, followed in the footsteps of her idol and became a US Open champion during her teenage years. After winning the US Open, Gauff revealed as a little kid she used to envision herself being a US Open champion one day. “When I was 13 I think or 14 when I played US Open juniors, I watched the men’s final that year, so I had those envisions of myself then. That felt like craziness today lifting this trophy. It hasn’t sunken in and I think it probably will maybe in a week or so. Oh, I think the first was when I was eight and I would come, like, three times, three or four years in a row, to see Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day and I was just watching, you know, players compete on this court,” Gauff said.Ā Also after winning the US Open, Gauff revealed how watching Iga Swiatek beat her and lift the 2022 French Open trophy motivated her. “Honestly, you know, the French Open moment, I don’t know if they caught it on camera but I watched Iga lift that trophy, and I watched her the whole time. I said, I’m not going to take my eyes off her, because I want to feel what that felt like for her,” Gauff said.