A star is born! 15-year-old Cori Gauff stuns Venus Williams in Wimbledon first round

US teenager Cori Gauff made light of the vast gap in experience as she pulled off a stunning upset against veteran Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon.

Gauff, 15, became the youngest player in the Open era to come through Wimbledon qualifying last week, and said it was a “dream” when she was drawn to face the elder Williams sister in the first round.

The 24-year age gap between the youngster and seven-time Grand Slam winner made the match one of the most intriguing of the first round, and Gauff – nicknamed ‘Coco’ – caused a shock by incredibly beating her opponent 6-4, 6-4 on Court One.

Gauff was stunned as she wrapped up her win. © AFP / Ben Stansall

Gauff, the world number 313, was not even born when Williams won the first two of her five Wimbledon titles.

The teen from Atlanta, Georgia, has been heralded as one of the sport's most promising prospects since reaching the US Open girls' final in 2017 as a 13-year-old, and won the French Open girls' title a year later.

But she announced herself in spectacular fashion on the senior stage at Wimbledon on Monday, putting in an assured performance against an aging but still highly-feared Williams.

Gauff will face a tough test in the second round, where she meets Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia, who pulled off a shock of her own by seeing off 10th seed Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets in their first-round match.

Elsewhere in the women’s draw on Monday, another huge surprise saw world number two Naomi Osaka dumped out by unseeded Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan in straight sets on Center Court.