STARNBERG, September 15, 2019
It’s been a whirlwind year for 15-year-old tennis sensation Cori “Coco” Gauff. The teenager turned pro at the beginning of 2018, but she’s already making the headlines for all the right reasons. Her style of play and attitude are incredible for someone so young. If she keeps her head down and takes advice from the right people, we truly believe that she’ll be the best player in the world for years to come.
Cori’s journey started on the ITF Women’s Circuit at an event in Florida. She made the best possible start to her professional career and kicked things off with a win against Alexandra Perper. Gauff later qualified for the US open through a wild-card entry but was dumped out in the first round by British player Heather Watson.
This didn’t affect her confidence or attitude. Cori Gauff knew that this was just the beginning of something extremely special.
Wimbledon Breakthrough
Gauff missed the Australian Open at the beginning of the year and only made it to the second qualifying round of the French Open. However, she did manage to qualify for Wimbledon. This made Coco the youngest ever player to make the main draw which is quite a remarkable record.
Nobody could have predicted what was about to happen next. The teenage superstar dumped five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams out of the tournament in the first round. What’s more, she did it in straight sets for good measure. Gauff was in floods of tears when the reality of what she had just accomplished finally set in. If you enjoy betting on tennis, this was a bad day to back the favourite.
The Florida-born superstar wasn’t ready to stop there. She went on to claim the scalps of Magdaléna Rybáriková and Polona Hercog on her way to the fourth round. Cori Gauff showed maturity and determination beyond her years as she came back to save two match points against the latter.
Coco’s Wimbledon dream came to an end when she was defeated by Simona Halep in the fourth round. However, she could take comfort from the fact that the Romanian went on to win the tournament.
US Open
Gauff qualified for the US Open through a wild-card entry in 2019. The 15-year-old was keen to prove that her Wimbledon performances weren’t a one-off. She beat Anastasia Potapova in the first round and Tímea Babos in the second.
This set up a third-round clash with world number one Naomi Osaka. On this occasion, this was a step too far for Coco, who lost the game in straight sets. However, the two players shared a poignant moment on the court after the game. Osaka urged Gauff to stay and speak to the crowd when she was in floods of tears. This went down extremely well with tennis fans all around the world.
A Bright Future
If you’re betting on tennis in the future, we’d strongly advise you to keep a close eye on Cori Gauff’s games. There will be plenty of learning curves along the way, but she has all the attributes that are required to succeed at the top. It’s clear for everyone to see that Coco Gauff is a superstar in the making
