Luxembourg Open: Just Days After Clinching WTA Record, Coco Gauff Suffers First-Round Exit

American teenage tennis player, Coco Gauff, suffered a first-round exit from Luxembourg Open just days after clinching her maiden WTA title.

After becoming the youngest player in 15 years to win a WTA title at the Linz Open, Gauff was thrashed by eighth seed Anna Blinkova 6-4, 6-0 in just 59 minutes. However, Gauff's doubles campaign is still underway as she and her compatriot Caty McNally are in the quarter-finals.

After a stunning first-round win, Russia's Blinkova said, "I'm very happy with my performance. I didn't make a lot of mistakes and I had the right tactics. I was calm and I did my job well today."

"I was very focused. I know she's a great player and I knew she was coming off a WTA tournament win, so I was well prepared," Blinkova, who will play Germany's Tatjana Maria in the second round, added.

Meanwhile, fifth-seeded Viktoria Kuzmova also got knocked out after losing to German Laura Siegemund 6-2, 6-3. Third-seeded Elena Rybakina advanced by beating Denisa Allertova 6-2, 6-1, and unseeded Russian Margarita Gasparyan defeated Monica Niculescu 6-2, 7-5.

Gauff is expected to take over from the veteran American sisters - Serena and Venus - who are in the twilight of their careers. Prior to her maiden WTA title win, the 15-year-old admitted that during her growing up years, she always looked up to the Williams siblings. She also mentioned she is already feeling the weight of the expectations.

"Watching the Williams sisters growing up, I always looked up to them. Now I have people saying they look up to me, and it’s a big challenge. I’m representing myself, yes, but I’m also representing young girls who want to do big things," Gauff had said in an interview.

Earlier, Gauff also became the youngest player to enter the top-100 in the women’s rankings for over a decade after making the quarterfinals of the Linz Open.