Tennis Teen Sensation Coco Gauff Set To Get Controversial US Open Wildcard

The US Open is set to relax its eligibility rules and allow teenage sensation Coco Gauff a controversial wildcard entry to compete in next months final Grand Slam of the calendar year.

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff

Gauff shot to fame a fortnight ago at Wimbledon when the 15-year-old stunned her idol and five-time winner Venus Williams in the opening round, finally succumbing to eventual champions Simona Halep in a one-sided quarter final.

Under WTA Tour rules, however, a player is not meant to receive more than three wildcards in their fifteenth year, and she has already reached her limit given she competed at the Miami Open, the French Open and Wimbledon qualifying.

But the United States Tennis Association looks set to claim it is exempt from these because it is a Major and not part of the regular tour.

‘We would expect to see Coco in the main draw of the US Open,’ USTA director of communications Chris Widmaier told the New York Post. ‘She certainly won the hearts of tennis fans in our country with her Wimbledon performance. It’s not every day an athlete of her age becomes water-cooler talk.’

Gauff played a significant role in ensuring American TV audiences spiked dramatically over the course of the championships, while Roger Federer whose agency, Team 8, represents the American prodigy, had argued for a rule change.

‘I understand the rule completely that they want the young players not to play too much, he said last week. ‘I’ve told the WTA they should loosen up the rules. I loved seeing [Martina] Hingis doing what she did at a young age. This is not me being involved in any shape or form as Team8 through Coco. I try to give her as much advice as I can through Team8. I think it would be nice, you know, if they could play more. I feel like it puts in some ways extra pressure on them every tournament they play. It’s like their week, this is now where I finally am allowed to play, I have to do well, right? I’m not sure if it’s maybe to some extent counterproductive.

‘They could maybe do a mentoring system that there is maybe still a rule about how many tournaments they’re allowed to play, but maybe it should be more, in my opinion. Then the mentors should come in, the legends like Billie Jean or Chris Evert, Navratilova, others, maybe speak to the parents, the coaches, the player for that matter, and really, like, educate them so they don’t fizzle out.

‘Maybe your best time is from 14 to 20 for some reason – it’s not like for everybody else from 20 to 30. So in a way you take away that opportunity, you know. Some want to have kids maybe at 24. At least you had a strong career for 10 years, from 14 to 24. I don’t know. ‘It’s up to debate. I don’t have the perfect solution. I see why they did it, because we’ve had the history of some tough parents out there. But at the same time you’re also increasing the pressure for that player each week to produce.’Photo Credit: Gettty

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