Linz (Austria) (AFP)
The talented American Cori Gauff will for the first time enter the top 100 WTA standings next Monday at just 15 years after reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament in Linz, Austria on Wednesday.
The nugget of women's tennis, which caused a sensation at Wimbledon in the round of 16, saw a surprising week in Linz where she was first fished out after being eliminated in qualifying.
The one who will turn 16 on March 13 has benefited from the abandonment on Wednesday of the Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova - touched in the left leg - while the latter was conducted in the third set (4-6, 6-4, 2 -0).
"It was a goal (to reach the top 100) In January, I sent a message to a loved one saying that I wanted to finish the year in the top 100 when I was to be ranked 800th in the world. It was a far-fetched goal but I'm happy I managed to reach it, "the Delta Beach native, who started the year 2019 at 685th in the world, said on the WTA website.
Ranked 110th this week, she became the youngest player to reach the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament since January 2005 when Bulgaria's Sesil Karatantcheva reached the same level of competition at the Gold Coast tournament (Australia) at age 15 and 153 days.
"I think I'm used to being the youngest to do a lot of things, I hope I can continue to do that and enjoy my younger years because as everyone says, it goes quickly," said Gauff. who will face Dutchman Kiki Bertens, world eighth, or Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck (44th) for a place in the last four in Austria.
If reaching the top 100 at age 15 remains an outstanding performance, other players have achieved this feat as the Russian comet Anna Kournikova or the Swiss Martina Hingis, N.1 world at 16 years.
© 2019 AFP