By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday January 16, 2022

Teenagers will be front and center at the 2022 Australian Open, with seven competing in the women's singles draw and another three on the men's side. Starting with the youngest singles player in the tournament, 17-year-old Coco Gauff, here's a brief word on all ten.



Coco Gauff (17), USA

Gauff is the youngest player in either draw, and is entering her fourth season on the Grand Slam stage. The American has already been to the second week or further four times, including at the Australian Open in 2020.

Leylah Fernandez (19)

Canada’s Fernandez had her Grand Slam breakout at the US Open last year, where she reached the final. Fernandez, who faces Maddison Inglis in the opening round, is playing her eighth Grand Slam main draw, and totes an 0-2 record at the Australian Open.

Marta Kostyuk (19)

Kostyuk reached the third round at the Aussie Open four years ago, but the Ukrainian is starting to come into her own on the senior circuit. She reached the second week at Roland-Garros last year, but the World No.66 has not won a main draw match at Melbourne since 2018.

Emma Raducanu (19)

The breakout champion at the US Open was blasted off the court in her season opener by Elena Rybakina, but she should be better prepared for her first-round match against Sloane Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion.

Clara Tauson (19)

The Dane made significant strides on the tour in 2021, winning a pair of titles and demonstrating the efficacy of her aggressive ground game. She’s making her Aussie Open debut this year.

Diane Parry (19)

A former junior No.1, Parry got a wild card into the main draw. The world No.114 face fellow teenager Marta Kostyuk in round one.

Zheng Qinwen (19)

Fresh off a semifinal two weeks ago at Melbourne, where she lost to Simona Halep but earned high praise, Zheng will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich as she makes her Grand Slam main draw debut.

Carlos Alcaraz (18)

Alcaraz has already made his mark at the Grand Slam stage. The Spaniard became the youngest player to reach the quarterfinals of a men’s singles draw at a Grand Slam since 1990 at last year’s US Open. He is already into round two, after his victory over Alejandro Tabilo on Day 1.

Holger Rune (18)

Rune is ranked 99, and considered to be one of the more promising players of his generation. The former junior No.1 took a set from Novak Djokovic at last year’s US Open.

Note: Rune dropped his opening match to Soonwoo Kown of Korea in five sets.

Lorenzo Musetti (19)

The promising, stylish Italian reached the second week at Roland-Garros and had a two sets to love lead over Novak Djokovic last year. But since then he’s really struggled. He has gone 6-17 since and will face Alex de Minaur in round one in Australia.