US schoolgirl who defeated her idol Venus Williams in her Wimbledon debut wins first set against veteran grass-court specialist as she battles to keep her dream alive
- Cori Gauff, 15, up against Magdalena Rybarikova, 30, a grass-court specialist
- Schoolgirl stunned the world by beating her hero Venus Williams on Monday
- Match is the first in the Championships played under Court One’s new roof
- You can follow minute-by-minute score updates on our live blog
The American schoolgirl who defeated her idol Venus Williams in her Wimbledon debut has won the first set of her second-round game as she battles to keep her dream alive.
Cori Gauff, 15, is 6-3 up against Magdalena Rybarikova, 30, a veteran grass-court specialist from Slovakia who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2017.
They are playing in front of a Court One crowd hoping for another upset after Gauff stunned the world by beating the seven-times grand slam winner 6-4 6-4 on Monday.
Cori Gauff, 15, (pictured) is up today against Magdalena Rybarikova, 30, a veteran grass-court specialist who reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 2017
Gauff’s family and coaching staff celebrate as she goes a set up against Rybarikova on Court One
Gauff, 15, stunned the world by beating Venus Williams on Monday, who she described as her idol
Their match is the first time a championship game has been played under the stadium’s new roof.
It was originally scheduled for Court Two, but people with tickets to that venue will not be allowed to now watch it on Court One.
Gauff is ranked 273 in the world against Rybarikova on 139.
Speaking after her win on Monday, the schoolgirl said her friends and family were ecstatic – including her coach and father Corey.
She said: ‘I know [my parents] are super happy, my dad was just jumping up every time I won a point. I’m just so happy and blessed that they really just spent all their time on me and my brothers and making sure that we’re successful.’
She went on to joke that she would be staying up all night responding to calls from her brother and grandma and texts from friends.
Gauff was not even born when Williams claimed her first Wimbledon title in 2000. She had a world ranking of 301 at the start of this year’s championships, and was given a wild card entry for her first Grand Slam tournament.
Speaking of her post-match conversation with her hero, Gauff revealed: ‘Venus told me congratulations and keep going, she said good luck and I told her thanks for everything she did.
‘I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her – I told her she was so inspiring and I’ve always wanted to tell her that but I’ve never had the guts to before.’
Ahead of the match, she revealed she listened to music by Jaden, Kendrick Lamar and Miss Mulatto when stepping on to court to help keep her calm.
After winning, Gauff broke down into tears – the first time she had cried since Ironman died in Avengers End Game.
Gauff (pictured today) said her parents were ‘super happy’ after her dramatic win on Monday. Rybarikova is pictured on the left
Gauff coming out onto Court One today in the first Championship match played under Court One’s new roof