16-year-old Kristina Liutova claims Memphis title in her first-ever WTA tournament

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/liutova-kristina/tnW3NSdC/"]Liutova[/a] became the youngest player to win a WTA title since 15-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]Coco Gauff[/a] triumphed in Linz in 2019.[/p][p]When she fired a stinging forehand to the corner to seal the win on her fourth match point, she dropped to her knees, then ran to the stands to share a tearful embrace with her mother.[/p][p]Having shaken off early nerves to storm through the second set, she led 4-0 in the third before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vidmanova-darja/lAVWhl4h/"]Vidmanova[/a] held serve for 4-1, then broke for 4-2.[/p][p]Liutova broke back immediately, but was unable to convert a trio of match points on her own serve before finally sealing the win with a last break of the Czech.[/p][embed guid="b427534c-d76b-450b-830e-11f5efa6dde9" url="https://x.com/WTA/status/2084004561648271829" social-type="twitter" /][p]Liutova's run to the title in the 250-level event included wins over top-seeded [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/alexandrova-ekaterina/dzbgeEFF/"]Ekaterina Alexandrova[/a] and sixth-seeded [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcnally-caty/YDHquro6/"]Caty McNally[/a].[/p][p]Ranked 229th in the world, she had come through qualifying to book her spot in the draw.[/p][p]Having started the year ranked 714th in the world, she is now projected to rise to 126th.[/p][p]Vidmanova, 23 and ranked 114th, remains in search of her first WTA title.[/p][image alt="Match stats" id="b6e28249-4e23-4cd3-84a0-eb595128e553" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="d4009517-ab7e-40d4-b9d4-17531aa468b7" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /]