American Tennis prodigy Cori “Coco” Gauff became the youngest player in the open era to advance to Wimbledon’s main draw for women’s singles after going through the qualifiers. Gauff will, therefore, be the 12th youngest player overall to participate at the All England Grass Court in Wimbledon’s history. But the other 11 younger players entered the main draw via direct entry and didn’t have to go through qualifying. Wimbledon 2019 Seedings: World Number Two Rafael Nadal Seeded Third Behind Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Gauff qualified for the main draw after beating Greet Minnen of Belgium 6-1, 6-1 in the final qualifying round match on Thursday. The match against 21-year-old Belgian lasted for 55 minutes before the American scripted history. The last 15-year-old to enter Wimbledon’s main draw via qualifiers was Britain’s Laura Robson in 2009. Ash Barty Begins With Her Wimbledon 2019 Preparations.

Born on March 13, 2004, Gauff is widely tipped to be the next Serena Williams in the United States. At 15, she is already the youngest woman to win a Grand Slam qualifying match in French Open. She has also won the French Open girl’s championship. "I'm still in shock," she said after she made it to Wimbledon’s main draw. "Playing against the top players in the field is going to be a different feel."

Gauff can smash several records if she manages to clinch Wimbledon 2019 title which will make her youngest ever to lift the Grand Slam tournament. The last time a 15-year-old lifted the Wimbledon trophy was back in 1887 when Charlotte “Lottie” Dod at 15 years and 285 days achieved the record of becoming the youngest ever woman to win a women’s singles title at Wimbledon.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 28, 2019 04:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).