Youngest tennis player to win a match in the main singles draw at Wimbledon

Jennifer Capriati (USA, b. 29 March 1976) was 14 years 89 days old when she defeated Canada’s Helen Kelesi 6-3, 6-1 in a first-round match at Wimbledon on 26 June 1990. It was No.12 seed Capriati’s second-ever Grand Slam appearance, after reaching the semi-finals at the French Open earlier in the month.

Capriati was two days younger than Kathy Rinaldi (USA, b. 24 March 1967), who won her first-round match 6-3, 2-6, 9-7 against South Africa’s Sue Rollinson at Wimbledon on 23 June 1981 at the age of 14 years 91 days. Cori “Coco” Gauff (USA, b. 13 March 2004) – the youngest player to reach the main draw at Wimbledon through qualifying – was 15 years 110 days old when she defeated five-time champion Venus Williams in Round 1 of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships on 1 July 2019.

Capriati advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon in 1990, beating Julie Halard and Robin White before bowing out to top seed Steffi Graf, 6-2, 6-4.

By comparison, qualifier Boris Becker (Germany, b. 22 November 1967) was 16 years 216 days old when he won his first-round match against America’s Blaine Willenborg at Wimbledon on 25 June 1984. Becker is the youngest male tennis player to win a match in the main singles draw at Wimbledon.