By Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
The success of Coco Gauff at the age of 15 has, for the first time in about a decade, rekindled conversations regarding the WTA’s Age Eligibility Rule.
Gauff, who turns 16 years old on March 13, 2020, can only play three more official WTA tournaments until that special birthday. According to the WTA Age Eligibility Rule (which you can read in full here in the WTA Rule Book: http://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/publications/2019WTARulebook.pdf), a 15-year-old can play 10 events during their 15th year, but are allowed up to four “merit based” increases based on success markers, which Gauff earned by virtue of her junior career, and success at Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round as a qualifying round wild card, at the U.S. Open, where she reached the third round as a main draw wild card, and at the WTA event at Linz, Austria, where she won her first WTA title as a lucky-loser.
Her win in Linz allowed Gauff to enter the top 100 of the WTA at No. 71, where she earned a direct entry into the Australian Open. Presumably, she will also play a lead-in event in Australia. She could also play in Dubai or Doha or Mexico.
To fill in some gaps, to give Gauff some other competitive playing opportunities outside of WTA events, Gauff has been and will be playing some specially created events. In August, she played an exhibition against Ash Barty at the Winston-Salem Open. She will play against Christina McHale and with and against Jim Courier and Andy Roddick as part of the Oracle Pro Series event at SMU October 25. (More info on that event here: https://www.invescoseries.com/event-page/oracle-pro-series-dallas/ She will also play an exhibition as part of the ATP Tour’s Delray Beach Open in her hometown in Florida in February.
One idea for another special event could be a concept I came up with called “The New Balance Invitational” where you can have the top six New Balance sponsored women pros – Coco Gauff, Heather Watson, Misaki Doi, Sorana Cirstea, Nicole Gibbs and a player who I never heard of named Paulo Sevila – and then have two spots open via a qualifying tournament or invite two other players. Host the event in Southern California (perhaps at UCLA or Riviera Country Club or Carson, California, the Sherwood Country Club, Manhattan Beach, LaQuinta or LaCosta just before Indian Wells in early March. The format would be to have a single knock out – with quarterfinals, semifinals and the final, but also have consolation rounds to determine 7th and 8th place, 5th and 6th place and 3rd of 4th place. Each player would get three matches as part of the event. It’s a great idea if I may say so myself.
During the U.S. Open, in discussion with a former top WTA player, who also succeeded as a teenager, I researched and compared Coco’s tournament activity to that of Venus and Serena Williams from the late 1990s, which is presented below for interest.
SERENA WILLIAMS
2 events in her 15th year
13 events in her 16th year
11 events in her 17th year
VENUS WILLIAMS
1 event in her 14th year
5 events in her 15th year
8 events in her 16th year
16 events in her 17th year
