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<\/source><\/picture>Nineteen-year-old American tennis star Coco Gauff publicly thanked God, and her church for helping her overcome her first-round loss at Wimbledon last month to win the Mubadala Citi DC Open women\u2019s final on Sunday where she beat Greek World No.9 Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3 in impressive fashion.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, I\u2019d like to thank my Father, God for this. After losing in first-round Wimbledon it was a tough situation,\u201d she said. \u201cYou know, a lot of prayer and a lot of support from my church family. So thank you to Him and those who support me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gauff, who is a member of the historic Saint John Missionary Baptist Church<\/a> in Boynton Beach, Florida, has previously talked about the importance of her faith and church family in her life.<\/p>\n In a New York Times Magazine piece,<\/a> Gauff spoke of her father, Corey Gauff, and revealed how he would pray with his daughter before each match for the health of both players.<\/p>\n The teenage star told the publication that it would be \u201cstupid to waste a prayer on results.\u201d<\/p>\n Gauff first made major headlines in 2019 when she became the youngest qualifier in Wimbleon\u2019s history, by winning her first-round match against the formidable Venus Williams, a five-time singles champion at the tournament and she gave credit to God then as well.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore every match since I was 8, my dad and I say a prayer together,\u201d Gauff revealed to NYT Magazine<\/a>. \u201cWe don\u2019t really pray about victory, just that me and my opponent stay safe. After the match, I was just thanking God for this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n Gauff in a statement<\/a> cited by the DC Open, explained what her first WTA-500 title, which was her fourth title overall in her career, means to her.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means a lot to me really,\u201d she said. \u201cAny American tournament I think is special, but I feel like even more here. I have played Cincinnati and I have played other tournaments in the U.S., even last year in San Jose when this was in San Jose, but I think that there is just something about D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n With the help of her new team to support her development as a player, including new coach Pere Riba<\/a>, and team consultant Brad Gilbert, Gauff has been able to address weaknesses in her game like her forehand and footwork.<\/p>\n “We all know that her forehand was always her weaker shot. I feel like now she’s improving that. She’s making more balls. She’s working on that,” Sakkari, 28, who had beaten Gauff four times before Sunday\u2019s match, said about Gauff\u2019s improvement<\/a>. “Mentally she looks a lot more mature. She knows what she’s doing on the court.”<\/p>\n Contact: leonardo.blair@christianpost.com<\/a> Follow Leonardo Blair on Twitter: @leoblair<\/a> Follow Leonardo Blair on Facebook: LeoBlairChristianPost<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST<\/strong> newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFree<\/span> Religious Freedom Updates<\/h2>\n