Delray’s CoCo Gauff Leads U.S. Team to 7th ITF World Jr. Tennis Title

CoCo Gauff (left) and the U.S. girls’ team

While CoCo Vandeweghe is climbing up the WTA tour rankings, another CoCo is making her mark on the world junior stage.

Thirteen-year old Cori “CoCo” Gauff of Delray Beach, Fla., led the United States to its record seventh 14-and-under ITF World Junior Tennis girls’ championship, recording singles and doubles victories Saturday to defeat defending champions Ukraine 2-1 in the final in Prostejov, Czech Republic.
 
The U.S. team of Gauff, Gabriella Price (14, Boca Raton, Fla.) and Charlotte Owensby (14, Boca Raton, Fla.) went undefeated in six matches, with Gauff going 6-0 in singles. In the second consecutive championship match between the U.S. and Ukraine, Gauff and Owensby clinched victory with a 6-2, 6-4, doubles win after Price fell to Lyubov Kostenko 6-3, 6-3, and Gauff defeated Dasha Lopatetskaya 6-4, 6-0, in singles.
 
The U.S. boys’ team of Martin Damm (13, Bradenton, Fla.), Toby Kodat (14, Bradenton, Fla.) and Alexander Bernard (13, Bonita Springs, Fla.) defeated Brazil 2-0 on Saturday to finish fifth.

Each three-player boys’ and girls’ team competed with 15 other nations from around the world, first in round-robin matches, then in a knockout bracket. In round robin play the U.S. girls defeated China 2-1, Venezuela 2-1 and France 2-1. In the quarterfinals they defeated Australia 2-0, and in the semifinals they beat Russia 2-1.

The U.S. has won seven World Junior Tennis girls’ titles (1992, 2007-10, 2013, 2017) and four World Junior Tennis boys’ titles (2002-03, 2008, 2012). Former U.S. junior international team members include Jim Courier, Andy Roddick, James Blake, Lindsay Davenport, and Sloane Stephens. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic also have represented their respective countries in the junior international team competition.

For more info go to www.usta.com/news.