Oct. 13 (UPI) — American phenom Cori “Coco” Gauff claimed her first WTA tour title with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 win over Jelena Ostapenko on Sunday to lift the Linz Open Trophy.
Gauff, 15, who advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon and third round at the U.S. Open this year, rebounded after dropping a one-sided second set to easily win the decider. After jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the final set, she dropped two games before closing out the match.
With Gauff’s victory, she became the youngest tennis player to win a WTA title since 2004.
“I’m still overwhelmed and shocked,” Gauff told reporters Sunday. “I guess it’s crazy to say it’s my first WTA title. This was definitely not on the calendar at the beginning of the year, because I didn’t think I’d have a chance to get in, and now I’m the champion, so it’s crazy.”
Gauff entered the tournament as a lucky loser after she replaced injured No. 6 seed Maria Sakkari. She initially failed to make the main draw after a straight-sets loss to Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch in qualifying.
@CocoGauff is your @WTALinz champion!
The 15-year-old defeats Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to claim her first WTA title! pic.twitter.com/i8ArqH6RnG— WTA (@WTA) October 13, 2019
Gauff earned a second-round victory over Kateryna Kozlova earlier in the week to secure a spot in the top 100 of the women’s rankings. She beat No. 8 seed Kiki Bertens in straight sets in the quarterfinals before another straight-sets win over Andrea Petkovic in the semifinals.
“It’s just literally insane that I got in as a lucky loser and now I’m the champion,” Gauff said. “My dad told me when I got in, before the first main-draw match: ‘You can’t lose twice in the same tournament.’ I’m sure he never thought it would come this far, to being the champion, but I guess he was right.”
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