The 30 Greatest Teenage Stars in Tennis History

Major titles before a first car, world No. 1 before finishing school. Some prodigies built long careers; a couple burned bright and early.

1. 1
   Mats Wilander

   Won the 1982 French Open at 17 as an unseeded Swede.
   1000pts
2. 2
   John McEnroe

   Came through qualifying to reach the 1977 Wimbledon semifinals at 18, then won the US Open at 20.
   777pts
3. 3
   Boris Becker

   Unseeded 17-year-old who won Wimbledon in 1985, still the youngest men's champion there.
   678pts
4. 4
   Carlos Alcaraz

   Won the 2022 US Open and became world No. 1 at 19.
   678pts
5. 5
   Björn Borg

   Won the 1974 French Open at 18 and was a Wimbledon champion by 20.
   555pts
6. 6
   Rafael Nadal

   Won the French Open on his debut in 2005, two days after turning 19.
   555pts
7. 7
   Chris Evert

   Reached the US Open semifinals at 16 in 1971 as an amateur.
   555pts
8. 8
   Coco Gauff

   Beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon at 15 and won the 2023 US Open at 19.
   555pts
9. 9
   Tracy Austin

   Won the 1979 US Open at 16, beating Chris Evert in the final.
   555pts
10. 10
    Monica Seles

    Won eight Grand Slam titles before her 20th birthday.
    0pts
11. 11
    Martina Hingis

    Became world No. 1 at 16 and won three majors in 1997.
    0pts
12. 12
    Michael Chang

    Won the 1989 French Open at 17, the youngest men's major champion ever.
    0pts
13. 13
    Steffi Graf

    Won the 1987 French Open at 17 and the Golden Slam at 19.
    0pts
14. 14
    Serena Williams

    Won the 1999 US Open at 17, the first of her 23 majors.
    0pts
15. 15
    Maria Sharapova

    Beat Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final at 17.
    0pts
16. 16
    Emma Raducanu

    Won the 2021 US Open at 18 as a qualifier without dropping a set.
    0pts
17. 17
    Jennifer Capriati

    Reached the French Open semifinals at 14 and won Olympic gold at 16.
    0pts
18. 18
    Lottie Dod

    Won Wimbledon in 1887 at 15, still the youngest singles champion in the tournament's history, and took five titles by 21.
19. 19
    Maureen Connolly

    Little Mo won the US Championships at 16 and in 1953, aged 18, became the first woman to win the calendar Grand Slam.
20. 20
    Ken Rosewall

    Won the Australian and French Championships in 1953 at 18, starting a career at the top that lasted over two decades.
21. 21
    Arantxa Sánchez Vicario

    Beat Steffi Graf in the 1989 French Open final at 17 to become the youngest Roland Garros women's champion at the time.
22. 22
    Gabriela Sabatini

    Argentine who reached the 1985 French Open semifinals at 15 and was ranked in the world top ten as a teenager.
23. 23
    Andrea Jaeger

    Reached world No. 2 at 16 and played the 1982 French Open and 1983 Wimbledon finals before a shoulder injury cut her career short.
24. 24
    Pam Shriver

    Reached the 1978 US Open final at 16, knocking out Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova in the semifinals.
25. 25
    Venus Williams

    Reached the 1997 US Open final at 17 as an unseeded debutante, launching a career with seven Grand Slam singles titles.
26. 26
    Pete Sampras

    Won the 1990 US Open at 19, beating Lendl, McEnroe and Agassi to become the youngest US Open men's champion.
27. 27
    Iga Świątek

    Won the 2020 French Open at 19 as an unseeded player without dropping a set, becoming Poland's first Grand Slam singles champion.
28. 28
    Bianca Andreescu

    Beat Serena Williams in the 2019 US Open final at 19 after also winning Indian Wells and the Canadian Open that summer.
29. 29
    Svetlana Kuznetsova

    Won the 2004 US Open at 19, beating Elena Dementieva in the first all-Russian Grand Slam final at Flushing Meadows.
30. 30
    Mirra Andreeva

    Won Dubai and Indian Wells back to back in 2025 at 17, becoming the youngest WTA 1000 champion and entering the top ten.

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