Teenager Gauff backs up Venus win to reach third round

LONDON (Reuters): American 15-year-old Cori “Coco”Gauff showed her stunning first-round defeat of Venus Williams was no flash in the pan as she outclassed Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-3 to reach the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Gauff, the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon women’s singles main draw via qualifying and the youngest to win a round since 1991, gave the 30-year-old former semi-finalist a torrid time as her fairytale debut continued under the Court One roof.

Gliding effortlessly across the grass she took charge of the match by breaking her 139th-ranked Slovakian’s serve to love in the sixth game and was in control thereafter. Rybarikova, a semi-finalist in 2017, might have hoped for Gauff’s level to dip but it never looked likely as the teenager remained ice cool and composed to close in on victory. Sensational as victory over her idol and five-time champion Williams was, the way she backed it up was arguably more impressive as she appeared completely impervious to the hullabaloo she has caused at the All England Club. In two matches she has made 18 unforced errors and barely put a foot wrong. “I just still can’t believe she is 15,” American great John McEnroe said in his summary for the BBC.

But even Gauff herself told reporters after the match she was the real deal: “You can kind of fake it till you make it. But I’m not faking it, at least right now.” Incredibly, this time last week Gauff was preparing for a science exam having jetted into London at short notice after being handed a wildcard for the qualifying event.

After a whirlwind week she now finds herself one win away from becoming the youngest player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati, aged 14, in 1990.