Coco Gauff in Luxemburg main draw after Sharapova, Kerber withdraw for injuries

Coco Gauff’s rise has been the surprise story of the year. The 15-year-old made headlines after qualifying for the opening round at Wimbledon. This week the American teenager reached her first quarterfinals of a WTA tournament at the Linz Open in Austria. The good news keeps coming for Gauff. The 15-year-old has moved into the main draw for the Luxembourg Open.

Sharapova and Kerber injured

Unfortunately, we have to announce that @AngeliqueKerber (leg injury) and @MariaSharapova (shoulder injury) both had to withdraw. McNally and @CocoGauff move into the main draw.

— BGL BNP PARIBAS OPEN (@WTAluxembourg) October 10, 2019

Gauff was elevated to the main draw after Maria Sharapova and Angelique Kerber withdrew because of injuries. Sharapova has been struggling with a shoulder injury this year. She underwent surgery in February. The former world number one returned to the court in June. However, she aggravated the injury again while playing at the Canadian Open in Toronto. Her last match was at the US Open. She lost to Serena Williams in the first round. Sharapova’s season appears to be over and she is now focusing on next year’s tournaments. Kerber withdrew from the Luxembourg tournament due to a leg injury. She is still in contention to qualify for the WTA Final in Shenzhen later this month.

Jule Gorges won last year

The BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open will start on 14^th -20^th October. Last year’s winner Jule Goerges will be aiming to defend her title. The German defeated Belinda Bencic in last year’s final. She has won seven WTA titles in her career. Her latest title was at the Auckland Open in January. The 30-year-old defeated Bianca Andreescu in the final. Other players expected to feature at the tournament are Elise Mertens, Monica Puig, and Camila Giorgi. Gauff will now join them together with Caty McNally. McNally and Gauff won the doubles title in Washington DC Open.

It has been a roller coaster year for the American. The teenager achieved global recognition at Wimbledon this year. She qualified for the opening round as a wild card. Her biggest moment came against Venus Williams. The 15-year-old upset the five-time Wimbledon champion in straight sets to qualify for the second round. Gauff’s match in the third round against Polona Hercog drew over five million viewers. Her spectacular run at the tournament ended in the Round of 16 after she lost to Simona Halep. This week, the American reached the quarterfinals of the Linz Open. She had lost in qualifying for the tournament but entered as a lucky loser after Maria Sakkari withdrew due to injury. She will face Kiki Bertens in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Gauff in Linz, ranking, and results in 2019

Ranked no.110, Gauff has a 15-7 win-loss record in 2019. Gauff is now competing in Linz where she defeated Liudmila Samsonova 6-7¹⁰ 6-2 6-2, Stefanie Voegele 6-3 7-6³ and Kateryna Kozlova 4-6 6-4 2-0 ret..

Gauff will take on Bertens in the quarter. They have never played each so far on the main tour.