AMERICAN CORI GAUFF became the youngest player in the Open Era to successfully battle through Wimbledon’s tough qualifying rounds on Thursday.

The 15-year-old secured her place in the first-round draw at the All England Club by beating Belgian Greet Minnen 6-1 6-1.

She had previously beaten the qualifying top seed Aliona Bolsova and Russian Valentyna Ivakhnenko to reach the final preliminary stage.

Resident in Delray Beach, Florida, a hub of world-class tennis coaching, Gauff has been tipped to make the grade at the top level since reaching the junior US Open final as a 13-year-old.

She lost to Amanda Anisimova on that occasion in 2017 but won last year’s French Open girls’ singles and the junior US Open doubles.

Gauff will not be the youngest player to appear in the Wimbledon women’s singles but will be the first aged 15 years or younger to compete in the main draw since Britain’s Laura Robson in 2009.

Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati and Tracy Austin notably made their debuts in SW19 as 14-year-olds.