US teen Coco Gauff, the 15-year-old who electrified Wimbledon with a fourth-round singles run last month, captured her first WTA title Saturday at the Washington Open in women’s doubles.
Gauff and partner Catherine McNally, who combined to win last year’s US Open junior women’s doubles title, defeated Hungary’s Fanny Stollar and American Maria Sanchez 6-2, 6-2 to hoist their inaugural WTA trophy.
The teens jumped into each other’s arms and later hugged in celebration of the breakthrough milestone triumph.
Gauff defeated idol Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon and rescued two match points on the way to beating Polona Hercog in the third round before eventual champion Simona Halep eliminated her.
Gauff, in her first post-Wimbledon singles appearance, qualified for the Washington main draw but lost her first match 6-4, 6-2 to Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.
McNally, a 17-year-old American who made only her fourth WTA appearance in singles, took her first three tour match wins to reach the semi-finals, where she lost 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 on Saturday to Italy’s Camila Giorgi.
