2021 US Open junior champ Robin Montgomery qualifies for first WTA event

The 18-year-old will meet sixth seed Coco Gauff in the first round of the WTA San Diego Open

Robin Montgomery at the 2022 Miami Open Image Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

October 10, 2022

Robin Montgomery has been on the radar of American tennis fans ever since she won the girls singles and doubles title at her home Grand Slam – the US Open – in 2021.

Having turned 18 just last month, the left-hander training at the Mouratoglou Academy served up some of that potential during the qualifying action this past weekend at the San Diego Open as she won two matches against top 50 players to qualify for her first WTA event.

A day after she defeated world No 27 Shuai Zhang in straight sets (6-2, 6-3), the 294th-ranked Montgomery upset one of the in-form players on the tour Bernarda Pera, ranked No 43 in the world, 1-6. 6-1, 6-4 to move into the 28-player main draw of the WTA 500 event which has a cut-off for direct entry at No 27.

World no.297 Robin Montgomery 🇺🇸 comes back to qualify for the San Diego WTA 500 📈

1-6, 6-1, 6-4 over Pera #SanDiegoOpen pic.twitter.com/rcYPOcRzY2
— TennisONE App (@TennisONEApp) October 9, 2022

Robin Montgomery to meet Coco Gauff in the first round

Montgomery’s reward for her efforts is a first round clash against the sixth seed Coco Gauff, who is six months older but already a Grand Slam runner-up and ranked No 8 in the world.

In other qualifying matches, top seed Ellen Perez, 11th seed Maria Camila Osorio Serrani, 12th seed Donna Vekic were among the others moving into the main draw.