Kristina Liutova becomes Memphis Classic champion

Sixteen-year-old Kristina Liutova of Russia claimed a 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Darja Vidmanova of the Czech Republic on Sunday to earn the title at the Memphis Classic in her first-ever WTA main-draw event.

Liutova, the world’s No. 229-ranked player who had to qualify to get into the main draw, became the first player aged 16-or-younger since Coco Gauff in 2019 to win a WTA event and the first player born in the 2010s to win a WTA event.

She started the tournament by advancing when top-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia was forced to retire, then handled sixth-seeded Caty McNally in the quarterfinals on the way to the title.

Liutova did not register any aces on the hard-court surface against Vidmanova, but she converted seven of 10 break-point opportunities.

She converted a higher percentage of her second serves into points (12 of 19) than her first serves (27 of 55).

Uzbekistan’s Kamilla Rahkimova defeated Venus Williams 6-4, 6-1 to highlight first-round action in Toronto.

Rahkimova needed 1 hour, 27 minutes to secure the win over Williams, 46, who received a wild card to play in Toronto for the 13th time.

Williams, who defeated her sister, Serena, in the 2014 National Bank Open semifinals before losing in the final, posted two aces versus six double faults against Rahkimova.

She converted just one of her four break-point chances and saw her WTA losing streak reach 13 consecutive matches.