Gauff has been outspoken from a young age, and grew up with activism engrained in her DNA, passed on from her grandmother Yvonee Lee Odom, who desegregated her high school in Delray Beach in the early 1960s.

Formidable world number two Aryna Sabalenka blasted past Coco Gauff into the Australian Open final on Thursday to keep her title defence on track.

"Happy, really proud of the fight I showed today," said Gauff, who had never progressed beyond the fourth round at Melbourne Park in four previous attempts.

Fourth seed Gauff, attempting to become the first woman to back up a US Open title with a Grand Slam win in Australia since Naomi Osaka in 2018-19, has been almost as impressive.

Fourth seed Gauff said ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park that she wanted to win "multiple" major titles after her breakthrough at Flushing Meadows.

"Some players' goal is to win a Grand Slam. Once they reach that, it's kind of what's next?" Gauf said on Friday

Coco Gauff held her nerve to beat Elina Svitolina in a gruelling three-set final on Sunday to retain her Auckland Classic title in an ideal warm-up for the Australian Open.

Let’s revisit the cream of the crop from a stellar year.

Gauff, 19, produced a gutsy performance on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in 2hr 6min to complete a fairytale transformation in her season's fortunes.

American teenager Coco Gauff shrugged off a 50-minute stoppage caused by climate protesters to power into the US Open final on Thursday with a straight sets defeat of Karolina Muchova.

Djokovic shrugged off ninth seed Fritz 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to extend his dominance of American players in New York and take another step closer to a record-extending 24th men's Grand Slam title.

Coco Gauff won the final 10 games of her match against Elise Mertens, completing a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 comeback and reaching the US Open round of 16, where she will face Caroline Wozniacki on Sunday.

Sixth seed Gauff, seen as one of the favourites for the title after recent tournament wins in Washington and Cincinnati, came from behind to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in an attritional 2hr 50min tussle on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Swiatek blitzed 80th-ranked Wang Xinyu of China 6-0, 6-0 on the back of 21 winners as the 22-year-old Pole took another step closer to becoming the first woman since Justine Henin in 2007 to win back-to-back titles at Roland Garros.

World number eight Daria Kasatkina has given the thumbs down to the idea of "trash-talking" between professional tennis players, saying that disparaging or boastful comments under the guise of banter would not work well in an "intelligent" sport.

World number one Iga Swiatek is the favourite to win an Australian Open women's draw shorn of some of its biggest recent stars.

French Open women's champion Iga Swiatek said she was "overwhelmed" after finding out Poland and Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski was in attendance to witness her claim a second Grand Slam title on the Parisian clay.

Iga Swiatek romped into her second French Open final on Thursday and will face Coco Gauff for the title after the teenager became the youngest Grand Slam finalist since 2004.