American teen sensation Coco Gauff captured the first WTA singles title of her career Sunday with a three-set victory over former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz.
The 15-year-old Gauff, who claimed her spot in the main draw as a lucky loser, outlasted the 2017 Roland Garros champ 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 to become the youngest WTA singles title winner since the Czech Republic's Nicole Vaidisova, who claimed titles at Vancouver and Tashkent in 2004 by the age of 15 years, five months and the youngest American woman since Jennifer Capriati in 1991. Gauff, who started the season ranked outside the top 600, is expected to vault into the Top 75 in WTA rankings with the win.
After losing a one-sided second set to Ostapenko, Gauff bounced back in the third, racing out to a 5-0 lead. She dropped two late games before closing out the match.
Tianjin Open
Sweden's Rebecca Peterson claimed her second career WTA title in as many months, beating Great Britain's Heather Watson 6-4, 6-4 at the finals in China.
Peterson, ranked No. 59 after winning her first title in Nanchang, China, last month, waited through a five-hour weather delay before the final was moved to an indoor facility. The Swede rallied from a break down in each set, turning around a 0-2 deficit both times en route to victory in one hour, 37 minutes.
Peterson recorded 17 winners and broke Watson four times, as the Englishwoman committed 38 unforced errors. The win should propel Peterson into the Top 40 for the first time in her career.
--Field Level Media