Coco Gauff became the youngest player to win a WTA title since 2004 when she won the Upper Austria Ladies Linz competition on Sunday.

The 15-year-old, whose incredible run at this summer’s Wimbledon saw her shoot to fame, beat former top-five player Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 1-6 6-2. Gauff's performance saw her rise through the WTA rankings, reaching a career-high ranking of 71, rising 39 places. 

Nicole Vaidisova was the last to win a WTA title aged 15 years, 5 months when she picked up titles at Vancouver and Tashkent in 2004.

Gauff's journey to the final at Linz also saw several milestones hit as she claimed her first Top Ten win over Kiki Bertens in the quarter-final of the competition.

"It has been an amazing week, I hope to come back here again. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life," said Gauff.

"I’m still overwhelmed and shocked. 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." 

"My dad told me when I got in, before the first main-draw match, he said ‘You can’t lose twice in the same tournament!’" Gauff continued. "I’m sure he never thought it would come this far, to being the champion, but I guess he was right!"


Heather Watson reaches the highest rank since 2018


British player, Heather Watson, also rose through the WTA rankings after an impressive run to the final of the Tianjin competition.

The 27-year-old reached her first WTA final in three years and is now ranked 88th in the world, her highest position since June 2018.

The Brit said she is now looking to target GB’s Olympic team for Tokyo after finishing her 2019 season strongly.