After 19-year-old Coco Gauff won her first Grand Slam title at the women’s tennis championship in the US Open on 9 September, she dropped to her knees, put her elbows on the bench, clasped her hands and brought them to her forehead with her eyes closed in prayer.Gauff said in an interview with NBC: ‘I was just saying thank you and I understood that all the tough times were just to make that moment even sweeter. I think if it came easy, I wouldn’t feel as appreciative as I did at that moment.’ Gauff has always been open about her Christian faith. Following her win in the Cincinnati Masters in August, she thanked her ‘Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ’ at the trophy ceremony. The men’s singles champion in the US Open, Serbian Novak Djokovic, is an Orthodox Christian who often wears a wooden cross around his neck and has been seen blessing himself during matches.