WTA Citi Open: first-round betting preview, tips & TV details for Washington

TV: BT Sport 2, 7pm Tuesday

Cori Gauff lit up the first week of Wimbledon and the teenage starlet will be hoping to do likewise when she appears on home soil for the first time since her All England Club adventure at the WTA Citi Open this week.

Organisers were unable to offer Gauff a main-draw wildcard due to WTA eligibility rules regarding young players, but the 15-year-old came through qualifying in Washington as she easily dispatched Maegan Manasse and Hiroko Kuwata to reach the event proper.

She takes on Zarina Diyas for a place in the second round and while that is a tougher assignment, the US phenomenon should be backed to take down the 84-ranked Kazakh.

Gauff stole the headlines at Wimbledon when she beat her idol Venus Williams in the first round and then eased past former semi-finalist Magdalena Rybarikova before staging a monumental comeback against Polona Hercog to make the last 16.

A clash with Simona Halep was always likely to prove a step too far for the teenager but Coco was far from disgraced against the player who would go on to lift the women's title.

There is no limit to how far Gauff might go in the sport, but for now she can enter no more than ten WTA tournaments between her 15th and 16th birthdays so will be forced to choose sparingly over the next eight months.

Gauff displayed maturity far beyond her tender years at Wimbledon and looks capable of coping with her sudden fame, and in Diyas she faces an opponent who has not won a WTA main-draw match since beating lowly-ranked wildcard Audrey Albie at the French Open.

Recommendation
C Gauff
3pts 4-6 Betway, Hills

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