17-Year Old Victoria Duval Shocks U.S. Open; Defeats Former Champion in Opening Round
17-year old Victoria Duval upset 2011 champ Samantha Stosur, winning her opening round bout at the U.S. Open.
Duval defeated Stosur despite ranking 296th worldwide; Stosur is ranked 11th.
Duval, who was born in Miami, but spent most of her childhood in Haiti, has a harrowing story. Her family returned to the U.S. after she and her cousins were kidnapped and held hostage when she was just seven.
That Duval is a resilient and emotionally sturdy player should perhaps not be a surprise, given her life’s journey. At 7 years old in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, she and several cousins were held hostage by armed robbers in her aunt’s house before being freed.
“It was traumatizing, (but) worse things have happened to people,” Duval said. “I’m lucky I got out of it. I’ve kind of erased that all from my mind.”
A HUGE victory for this talented and fascinating young woman.
We’re rooting for you, Victoria!
