Kristina Liutova became the first player born in the 2010s to win a WTA Tour title on Sunday, as she fought back to defeat Darja Vidmanova 1-6 6-1 6-3 in the Memphis Classic final.

It looked as though the 16-year-old's crowning moment would have to wait when she lost the first set of the showpiece match 6-1, with 23-year-old Vidmanova also eyeing her first Tour-level title.

But the teenager took control of the contest as Vidmanova became more cautious in her approach, with a break in game four of the second set proving to be a turning point.

Liutova broke again at the very next attempt to force a decider, then produced some spectacular tennis to race into a 4-0 lead.

Nerves seemed to get the better of her at that moment as she was broken in successive games, but fortunately for the Russian, Vidmanova also struggled on her own serve.

Liutova managed two more breaks of her own, the second of them sealed when her huge forehand to the back-left corner proved unreturnable for Vidmanova, before dropping to her knees in elation.

Liutova, who had to go through qualifying to reach the main draw of the WTA 250 event, which was her first such tournament, said: "I want to thank my family and my mom. 

"Look where we got to! Look where you brought me! Since three years old you've done such an amazing job."

Moments like this 

A day Kristina Liutova will never forget!#memphisclassic pic.twitter.com/69WknJqLvT

— wta (@WTA) August 2, 2026

Sensational 16-year-old Liutova breaks new ground 

Liutova was born in February 2010, a year that saw Rafael Nadal claim three of the four men's singles grand slam titles, with Serena Williams winning two majors in women's singles.

Before this tournament, no player born in the 2010s had even reached the quarter-finals of a WTA event, but Liutova managed to go three steps further than that.

She is the first 16-year-old champion on the WTA Tour since the 2019 Linz Open, when Coco Gauff captured her first silverware by beating Jelena Ostapenko.

Liutova is also the first player to win a title on her very first appearance in the main draw of a WTA event since Maria Timofeeva, in Budapest in 2023.

She is just the third teenager to win a title on the Tour this year, after Mirra Andreeva (Adelaide, Linz and Roland-Garros) and Lilli Tagger (Prague), but is by far the least established – she went into Sunday's final ranked 229th in the world, having started 2026 ranked all the way down in 714th.