This will be Gauff’s final Grand Slam as a teenager as she turns 20 on March 20, but what a ride it has been during her teens as she became the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon when she reached the main draw at 15 years and three months in 2019.
Last year she took her tennis to another level as she won her maiden Grand Slam at the US Open and reached a career-high No 3 in the WTA Rankings.
Gauff faces Anna Schmiedlova in her opener at Melbourne Park.
Diana Shnaider
Diana Shnaider – who waves goodbye to her teenage years on April 2 – will make her third Grand Slam main draw appearance with her previous matches coming at last year’s Australian Open and French Open. On both occasions she reached the second round.
The Moscow-born Shnaider has a career-high ranking of 60 and reached her maiden WTA final last year as she finished runner-up to Ons Jabeur at the Ningbo Open.
The teen kicks off her 2024 Australian Open campaign against 26th seed Jasmine Paolini.
Ashlyn Krueger
American Krueger made her Grand Slam main draw debut as a 17-year-old at the 2021 US Open, however she is yet to win a match as she lost in the first round during her three appearances at Flushing Meadows.
Krueger, who celebrates her 20th birthday on May 7, won her maiden WTA Tour title in September when she defeated Zhu Lin in the final of the Japan Women’s Open.
She sits at No 78 in the WTA Rankings and will face 12th seed Qinwen Zheng first up.
Linda Noskova
Czech teenager Noskova is the youngest of the 19-year-olds as she only turns 20 on November 7.
The Australian Open will be Noskova’s sixth appearance in the main draw of her Grand Slam with her first coming at the 2022 French Open. She also has two match wins under her belt from the 2023 French Open and the 2023 US Open.
The teenager, who faces compatriot Marie Bouzková in the first round, also has two runners-up trophies from the 2023 Adelaide International and the 2023 Prague Open.
The 18-year-olds
Ella Seidel
German youngster Seidel will make her Grand Slam debut after beating Elizabeth Mandlik, Francesca Jones and Hailey Baptiste in her three qualifying matches.
Seidel, who turns 19 on Valentine’s Day, has been handed a tough opener at Melbourne Park as she faces defending champion and world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka.
Linda Fruhvirtova
It feels like Czech star Fruhvirtova – born May 1, 2005 – is a veteran as she has been on the WTA Tour since 2020 as she made her debut at the age of 15.
However, she only made her Grand Slam bow two years later at the US Open, reaching the second round. Last year Fruhvirtova won her maiden title at the Chennai Open.
Fruhvirtova, whose youngster Brenda will also play in Australia (more below), faces 10th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia in the first round.
Taylah Preston
The 18-year-old Preston will make her Grand Slam main draw debut after she was handed a wildcard entry by Australian Open organisers.
Preston, who will celebrate her 19th birthday on October 27, only made her WTA debut in January 2022.
The Australian faces 19th seed Elina Svitolina in the first round.
The 17-year-old
Sara Bejlek
The Australian Open is Bejlek’s final event as a 17-year-old as she turns 18 on January 31 and she faces 32nd seed Leylah Fernandez in her opener.
The Czech, who came through qualifying, will make her fourth main draw appearance at a Grand Slam as she first made her debut at the 2022 US Open.
The 16-year-olds
Mirra Andreeva
Andreeva also feels like a household name on the WTA Tour following her 2023 heroics.
Aged 15, Andreeva made her WTA Tour debut in October 2022 and in April last year she won her maiden WTA 1000 match at the Madrid Open.
Shortly after turning 16 on April 29, she reached the third round of the French Open and followed it up with a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon.
Andreeva, who has seven ITF titles to her name, kicks off her campaign against Bernarda Pera.
Brenda Fruhvirtova
Czech youngster Fruhvirtova won her maiden ITF Circuit trophy at the age of 14 years, 10 months and four days with her title coming at the $25k Tucuman event in Argentina.
She made her WTA Tour-level debut a few weeks later and a Grand Slam debut followed in 2023.
Last year she became the fifth-youngest player to qualify for the Australian Open and she again came through qualies this year. Her reward is a first-round clash against Ana Bogdan.
Fruhvirtova will turn 17 on April 2.
Alina Korneeva
Korneeva – born on June 23, 2007 – will make her Grand Slam main draw debut when she takes on Sara Sorribes Tormo in the first round on Monday after coming through qualifying.
The Russian, nicked mini Sharapova by some, has a lot of pedigree as she won the 2023 Australian Open and French Open junior girls’ titles and is also a former ITF Junior world No 1.
At 14 years, 10 months and four days, Fruhvirtová became the youngest ITF Circuit champion, claiming her first title at the $25k Tucuman event in Argentina, since American Claire Liu, then 14 years, 9 months old, won a $10k event in Orlando in 2015.
Leave a Reply