Dr. Alwin Spence
Saturday, September 9, 2023. What’s up? U.S. Tennis Open, Final for women. Young ,gifted and Black 19 year old Coco Gauff versus the powerful, yelling, 25 year old Ayana Sabalenko. Figure out where my loyalty lies. For the next three days after this exciting match, every call I received was the same question, Did you watch the match? Of course I did. I was up early, did all my chores and by 4: 00 p.m. I was right in front of my T.V. waiting for the umpire to start the game.
The power and maturity of Ayana compared to the youthfulness and innocence of Coco would lead one to think, well, this is the giant Goliath and the boy David all over again. Slaying the giant and doing it so convincingly was far from most minds, hoping , but realistically
No, No, No. First set , Coco lost, but not blown away as might have been expected, nor she did not appear fearful. She obviously assessed her loss, and must have realised that with some more effort there could be a better challenge. She came back fighting and wonthe second set. With more confidence and composure she won the third set and the grand title at age 19, and of course the cash prize of $3 million for her hard work. Coco is stepping into the big shoes of her idol and role model Serena Williams who first won the U.S. Open in1999, that is before Coco was born.
But who are those who did write her off? In her acceptance speech she adequately responded, telling the doubters that pouring water on her performance was merely adding energy to her steps. Maybe only Coco was certain that she would win. Surprisingly she got down on her knees in front of millions of people and prayed. She must have done that privately before the match, and felt the assurance was given.
It tells me she is from a prayerful family that keeps her focused, confident and humble. To add to all this excitement, I was watching with my daughter in Atlanta, and she gets the plays about ten seconds before it comes on my T.V. Also it was so nice sharing this victory with
my close tennis enthusiasts.
I am not a Sports writer, but Coco’s victory has endeared her to many, a role model especially for our Black youth. I cannot help but notice that Coco used her loss of the first set as the foundation on which she built in order to win sets 2,3. One failure or one loss does not determine defeat. Coco, you have another 19 years of tennis before any talk of retirement. You have more trophies to win and much more to teach us all. Congratulations and continued good luck, you make us all very proud.
