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American teenager Coco Gauff makes waves at Wimbledon

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5 years ago

July 9, 2019

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Gauff, 15, is the newest tennis sensation. She became the youngest player ever to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon by winning three matches in the qualifying competition and beat five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round, National Daily learnt.

She followed it up with a win over Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the second round and on Friday, she saved two match points as she came from a set and 5-2 down to beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia for a place in the last 16.

Having been almost anonymous when she arrived at Wimbledon, the American is fast becoming a star.

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“Before I played Venus, as you know, when you walk to leave the practice courts, there are people waiting [and] one little kid asked me for a picture,” she said. “Then after the next day, after I played Venus, everybody was screaming my name. It was pretty surreal how life changes in a matter of seconds.

Gauff is assured of at least $220,000 for reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon but said she had not even thought about splashing out on anything special.

“I mean, I can’t buy a car because I can’t drive,” she said. “I don’t know. I hate spending money, to be honest. I don’t really know. Maybe I’m going to buy some more MSFTSrep, which is Jaden [Smith]’s line, buy some hoodies from that.”

Gauff plays Simona Halep, the former world No. 1, in the fourth round on Monday.