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Wimbledon: Oldest player to play youngest in first round of ladies' singles

Stephanie Ayako Karaki Harris
·Contributor
Cori Gauff is set to face Venus Williams. (Getty)
Cori Gauff is set to face Venus Williams. (Credit: Getty Images)

It’s an opening game that has already got a lot of buzz surrounding it.

The five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, 39, will face Cori Gauff in an all-American contest for their first round match on Monday.

The 15-year-old unseeded contender has already made history by becoming the youngest person in the Open Era to qualify for the main Wimbledon draw.

She has credited Williams, and her sister Serena, for being the inspiration behind her choice to take up tennis, saying in an interview to the official Wimbledon website “they’re the reason why I wanted to pick up the tennis racquet. I’m just super happy that they both and thankful that they chose to play tennis”.

READ MORE: Cori Gauff becomes the youngest player in Open Era history to qualify for Wimbledon draw

READ MORE: Konta’s Wimbledon preparation hit by third round exit at Eastbourne

Gauff has been earmarked for stardom having reached the girls’ singles final at the US Open aged just 13 and having won the junior French Open at 14.

Johanna Konta, the 19th seed, will face Romanian qualifier Ana Bogdan and could take on No. 9 seed Sloane Stephens in the third round in a rematch of their French Open quarter-final, which the British number one won handsomely.

Serena Williams will undoubtedly be looking to add to her title collection and equal Margaret Court’s all-time grand slam singles record of 24.

The reigning champion and No. 5 seed Angelique Kerber will face Tatijana Maria for an all-German meeting in her first match.

Meanwhile, in the men’s draw, Novak Djokovic, the 2018 champion and current world No. 1, will face German Philipp Kohlschreiber for his initial game.

Andy Murray, joined by Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herber, could face his brother Jamie, who will play with fellow British doubles specialist Neal Skupski, in the third round of the men’s doubles.

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