Florida tennis prodigy Cori Gauff, 15, becomes the youngest player to ever qualify for the Wimbledon
Florida tennis prodigy Cori Gauff, 15, becomes the youngest player to ever qualify for the Wimbledon in the Open era after defeating Belgium’s Greet Minnen in a match 6-1, 6-1.
A Florida tennis prodigy became the youngest player to ever qualify for the Wimbledon in the Open era on Thursday.
Cori Gauff, 15, defeated Belgium’s Greet Minnen in a match 6-1, 6-1 to accomplish the feat. The tournament is set to begin July 1.
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“I don’t know about any of the records I break until after, until somebody tells me,” she told reporters after the match, according to Wimbledon.com. “I just feel really blessed that I’m able to. I’m thankful that my parents never put any limitations on my goals, because sometimes parents can do that.”
The night before her match with Minnen, Gauff was taking a high school science test, according to BBC. She had been online shopping before receiving a call eight days ago about playing in a qualifying match for Wimbledon at Roehampton in west London.
Gauff will be the youngest to compete at Wimbledon since Laura Robson, who was also 15 at the time. Gauff is technically younger than Robson.
Gauff had a previous run-in with tennis history when she was 13. She was the youngest to make a U.S. Open girls final and became one of the youngest players to win a French Open girls title at 14.
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“My parents always told me to shoot as high as I wanted to,” she said. “And I’m just happy that, not only did they accept my goals, they really sacrificed everything to make sure I get there.”