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.
Scan a list of junior major champions in tennis, and the names pop out. Iga Swiatek, the current women’s world No. 1 and five-time WTA Grand Slam champion. Andy Roddick, the last American man to win a major, and Andy Murray, the first British man to do so since 1936. Martina Hingis, another five-time major champion, and Justine Henin, of the French Open three-peat.
Then there are all the other names.
In the last 24 years, four boys’ Grand Slam winners have gone on to win a senior major title; eight girls’ winners have done so. Swiatek and Coco Gauff both won girls’ titles in 2018, but the last male to do the junior-senior double is Marin Cilic, who won the boys’ singles at the French Open in 2005, and the U.S. Open nine years later. Many other winners have had solid careers inside the top 50, with senior ATP or WTA titles along the way, but being an elite junior player and carrying that through to senior tennis is the opposite of a simple copy and paste.
The…
