World No. 229 Kristina Liutova is the first WTA Tour champion to be born in the 2010s. Liutova, 16, came from a set down at the Memphis Classic Sunday in Tennessee to defeat 23-year-old Darja Vidmanova 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.For a little under half an hour, it appeared that Vidmanova’s first-strike tennis would overwhelm Liutova’s steadier, insistent baseline game. But Vidmanova, who won the NCAA triple crown while representing the University of Georgia, became more defensive as the match wore on, as if expecting Liutova to beat herself.Instead, her level never dropped, and despite a late surge from Vidmanova when she was 4-0 down in the third set, it was Liutova who collapsed at the net with joy after forcing one last error from her opponent’s racket.“I want to thank my family and my mom. Look where we got. Look where you brought me. Since three years old you’ve done such an amazing job,” Liutova said during the trophy ceremony.Why are the US Open courts blue?Tifo SportsRussia’s Liutova, who has trained at the Gorin Academy in Redmond, Wa. since 2020, is the first WTA Tour champion aged 16-and-under in seven years, since Coco Gauff at the 2019 Linz Open in Austria. She came through qualifying at the new 250-level event in Memphis, before defeating top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the opening round. Alexandrova had to retire after struggling with the heat in their match, before Liutova defeated established tour players Maya Joint and Caty McNally to reach the semifinals.