This article is part of The Next Generation series. As the greats, such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, become the past and Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek handle the present, The Athletic explores the next generation: the rising stars who will be tasked with securing tennis’ future.

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The WTA Tour is in an exciting position as an established order at the top of the rankings creates a target for the most talented players below them to hit.

The Grand Slam tournaments are largely divided between the top four: world No 1 Iga Swiatek seemingly has the French Open favourite tag sewn up; world No 2 Coco Gauff is defending U.S. Open champion; and world No 3 Aryna Sabalenka has won the last two Australian Opens.

Wimbledon, however, has seen eight different winners in its last eight editions and the U.S. Open has been similarly unpredictable, with nine different winners in the last 10.

The Grand Slams may be out of reach to the game’s rising stars for a little while, but plenty of young players are primed and ready to make a name for themselves.

Players from last year’s WTA next gen survey at The Athletic include Mirra Andreeva, who reached the French Open semifinals and won her first WTA Tour title this year, Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen and…

PARIS — It was only a matter of time for Chinese tennis, wasn’t it?

In the biggest win on a tennis court for the world’s most populous country since the glory days of Li Na, Zheng Qinwen won the gold medal for China at Roland Garros on Saturday afternoon.

Zheng, a 21-year-old rising star, took advantage of an erratic performance from Donna Vekic of Croatia to give China its first Olympic medal in singles, on the same court that Li notched her breakthrough win at the French Open, 13 years ago.

“I always wanted to be one of the players who can inspire young kids,” Zheng said with the gold medal hanging from her neck. She said the Olympics are the most important tournament in her country, even more important than the Grand Slams. Especially to her father, who pushed her into the sport when she was a small girl growing up in Shiyan, a city in northern China. Aged seven, Zheng went to Wuhan with her father to play in front of a coach. She impressed so much that she would stay there to train — alone.

“Now I can tell him I made history,” she said, beaming with the brightest of smiles.

It was a win that the Chinese who travelled to Paris for these Olympics and those who live here as part of the burgeoning diaspora were ready for.

Flags were everywhere in the crowd at Court…

Coco Gauff of the United States lost 6-7, 2-6 to Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the Olympic women’s singles tournament, but the match was overshadowed by a controversial line call decision in the second set as Gauff was trying to stage a comeback.

The dispute led to an argument of several minutes during which Gauff said repeatedly that the point should have been replayed. “You have to understand this is not fair,” she said on the court before the match resumed.

Here’s what happened, the rules surrounding the incident, and why Gauff was so frustrated by the official decision.

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What happened?

At 2-3, 30-40, Vekic returned a second serve from Gauff.

She caught the ball slightly off-center, causing it to loop back deep into the center of the court, pushing Gauff back behind the baseline. Gauff set up in her full forehand ready position, able to prepare fully because of the speed of the ball.

As the ball bounced, extremely close to the line, a linesperson called Vekic’s shot out as Gauff swung into the forehand.

Gauff then pulled up on her follow-through, sending the ball into the net.

Immediately after the call, the linesperson said “correction,” which is the word umpires use to overrule a call. This meant he judged the ball from Vekic to be in, and chair umpire Jaume Campistol…

Elena Rybakina has withdrawn from the women’s tennis competition at the Paris Olympics.

The world number four was set to be the third seed for the event following Aryna Sabalenka’s own withdrawal. France’s Caroline Garcia now moves into her seeded slot in the draw.

Alternate Daria Saville of Australia moves into the main draw and will play China’s Qinwen Zheng in the first round.

Rybakina has reached the quarter-finals twice on the clay at Roland Garros, where the Olympic competition will be held, in 2021 and earlier this year.

She would have met Naomi Osaka or Angelique Kerber if she had won her first-round match against Jacqueline Cristian.

Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, missed out on a medal in Tokyo in 2021, finishing fourth after losing to Elina Svitolina in the bronze-medal match.

The 25-year-old has also withdrawn from the mixed doubles draw where she was slated to partner Alexander Bublik. They have been replaced by Nadia Podoroska and Maximo Gonzalez of Argentina.

Rybakina becomes the latest in a number of high-profile names to pull out of the competition on the women’s side including Ons Jabeur, Marketa Vondrousova and Madison Keys.

Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune have all withdrawn from the men’s competition.

‘The Olympics loses another…

Coco Gauff will become the first tennis player in history to act as Team USA flag bearer when she joins LeBron James at the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Gauff, 20, is the world No. 2 and defending U.S. Open champion. She will also become the youngest American flag bearer in Olympic history, overtaking Cindy Nelson, who fulfilled the role at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games in Austria.

Gauff is representing Team USA in the women’s singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, joining world No. 6 Jessica Pegula in the women’s doubles and men’s No. 11 Taylor Fritz in the mixed event.

She had initially been selected to play in the Tokyo Games, but a COVID-19 diagnosis forced her to sit out in 2021.

GO DEEPER

How does Coco Gauff solve a problem like Iga Swiatek?

The favorite for the singles title is world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who has won the last three French Open titles at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, the venue for the Olympic tennis events. Swiatek has an 11-1 head-to-head record against Gauff, including a recent victory in the semifinals of this year’s French Open in June.

Gauff, who won the women’s doubles title at that tournament with partner Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, will hope to defeat her during the Games, where Siniakova will play with Wimbledon…

Wimbledon is over for another year, with the trophies hoisted aloft and the All England Club gates closed.

Carlos Alcaraz and Barbora Krejcikova have the singles titles, beating Novak Djokovic and Jasmine Paolini respectively. British success came from Henry Patten, who partnered Harri Heliovaara to win the men’s doubles, and from Alfie Hewett, in the wheelchair men’s singles. Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend won the women’s doubles and Hsieh Su-Wei and Jan Zielinski won the mixed.

Here, The Athletic tennis team — writers Matt Futterman and Charlie Eccleshare, and editor James Hansen — reflect on the past fortnight, picking the players, matches, and moments that made the tournament.

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Player of the tournament

Futterman: Carlos Alcaraz. To be this good on grass this quickly is scary. To be this good on grass, this year, right after winning Roland Garros? That’s even scarier.

GO DEEPER

Surface mastery: How Alcaraz won Grand Slams on hard, grass and clay courts

Eccleshare: Alfie Hewett, who also provided one of the most heartwarming moments. The home favourite was looking to complete the career Grand Slam in the wheelchair singles, having lost twice in the Wimbledon final previously. In 2022, he served four times for the title and couldn’t get over the line.

The…

Harrison Butker issued a response to a dig tennis legend Serena Williams made at the Kansas City Chiefs kicker while she hosted the 2024 ESPY Awards on Thursday. Butker called Williams a “great host” but said she used the event as an “opportunity to disinvite” those with whom she disagrees.

Williams discussed the year in women’s sports onstage with sister Venus Williams and “Abbott Elementary” star Quinta Brunson. Venus told the audience to “go ahead and enjoy women’s sports, like you would any other sports, because they are sports.”

Serena then added, “Except you, Harrison Butker. We don’t need you.”

“At all. Like, ever,” Brunson said.

Butker drew widespread criticism for a commencement speech he gave in May at Benedictine College in which he said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker,” among other controversial comments.

Butker attended Thursday’s ESPY Awards, but the telecast did not show his reaction to Williams’ jab. He later issued a statement addressing the comment.

“I thought Mrs. Williams was a great host and applaud her for using her platform to express her beliefs on a variety of topics,” Butker said in the statement, first reported by NBC News on Friday and confirmed by The Athletic.

“Sports are supposed to be the…

WIMBLEDON — Barbora Krejcikova beat Jasmine Paolini in the Wimbledon final at the All England Club 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 on Saturday.

The No 31 seed prevailed over the No 7 seed in a three-set swing of a final. Initially it was dictated by Krejcikova’s prestigious attack, before Paolini’s ability to hang in rallies brought her back into the match. Ultimately, the Czech’s gamestyle meant that she was the one who would decide who prevailed, and she held her nerve in the final set.

It is Krejcikova’s first Wimbledon title and her second Grand Slam title in singles. She becomes the eighth winner of the women’s singles title at the tournament in eight editions.

The Athletic’s writers, Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman, analyze the final and what it means for tennis.

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One shot does not make a match – but how does it send a message?

It can be dangerous to draw too many conclusions from a single point early in any tennis match — all points are worth the same, after all. The 46-shot rally with the miraculous between-the-legs winner doesn’t count for any more than the muffed return on the second serve.

Still, players make statements on certain points. They use them to build momentum and send messages. Carlos Alcaraz has made winning a crazy point and using it to wake him from…

Follow live coverage of the Wimbledon women’s final here

Catherine, Princess of Wales will attend the Wimbledon men’s final on Sunday July 14 in her role as patron of the All England Club but will miss Saturday’s women’s final.

Kensington Palace has confirmed that Kate Middleton will be present for Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic’s meeting, after the All England Club issued a statement regarding the women’s final between Jasmine Paolini and Barbora Krejcikova.

“At the request of Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales, Patron of The All England Lawn Tennis Club, the trophies will be presented on court by Deborah Jevans CBE, Chair of The All England Lawn Tennis Club,” the statement read.

“Deborah will be accompanied by Sally Bolton OBE, Chief Executive of The All England Lawn Tennis Club (and) Sandi Procter, President of the LTA.”

The Princess of Wales announced in March she been diagnosed with cancer and had begun chemotherapy.

She attended the Trooping the Colour parade in London on June 15 in her first public appearance since that announcement.

She has presented the winners’ trophies on Centre Court since 2019, when she attended her first ceremony as…

In the 17 years between 2000 and 2016, six women won the Wimbledon title — and the two winners with the most trophies between them had the same surname. Venus and Serena Williams, Petra Kvitova, Maria Sharapova, Marion Bartoli, and Amelie Mauresmo lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish, with the Williams sisters’ combined 12 titles (and four finals in which they played each other) bringing an atmosphere of inevitability that was occasionally and happily injected with surprise.

Since then, including Serena’s last title in 2016, seven different women have won Wimbledon in seven tournaments, with the 2020 edition having been cancelled due to Covid-19. Williams; Garbine Muguruza; Angelique Kerber; Simona Halep; Ash Barty; Elena Rybakina; and Marketa Vondrousova.

On Saturday July 13, an eighth will follow, when Italy’s Jasmine Paolini, who had never won a tour-level match on grass until last month, takes on Barbora Krejcikova, the Czech whose best result at the All England Club prior to this year was the fourth round. They have come through a draw in which the top seeds have fallen at regular intervals, starting with Belarusian world No 3 Aryna Sabalenka withdrawing with a…