15-year old Cori Gauff becomes the youngest Wimbledon qualifier

The American teenager had beaten Spain's Aliona Bolsova and Valentyna Ivakhnenko in the qualifiers to reach the Wimbledon main draw.

Published : Jun 27, 2019 22:47 IST

Gauff is the 2018 Roland Garros junior champion and 2017 US Open junior runner-up – the youngest ever finalist at the event.

Fifteen-year-old Cori ‘CoCo’ Gauff became the youngest qualifier to the Wimbledon main draw in the Open Era by defeating Greet Minnen of Belgium in straight sets on Thursday.

The American teenager had beaten top seed Aliona Bolsova – the 21-year-old Spaniard who reached the round of 16 at the French Open – in straight sets in the first round of qualifiers, then followed that up with another easy win over Valentyna Ivakhnenko.

Gauff’s win against world No. 94 Bolsova made her the youngest player to defeat a top-100 player at a Grand Slam since a 14-year-old Martina Hingis’s run to the fourth round of the 1995 US Open, WTAtennis.com reported.

Gauff is the 2018 Roland Garros junior champion and 2017 US Open junior runner-up – the youngest ever finalist at the event.