Women's tennis could experience a major shakeup in rankings next season, with plenty of interesting names expected to make their mark.
Teenagers have not been left out of contending for the biggest WTA titles in the past few seasons. In four of the past five years, at least one teenager has won a Grand Slam, and there is a good chance that trend will continue next season.
But Grand Slams are not the only metric to determine a player's breakthrough. A Top 10 or even Top 20 win that serves as a catalyst to a productive season is well worthy of being classified in that category.
In this article, we shall list five of the likeliest teenagers who could enjoy a breakthrough year on the women's tour, culminating with a new career-high ranking and potentially even making quite the splash at Grand Slam level.
5. Brenda Fruhvirtova (16 years old)
Brenda Fruhvirtova, younger sister of Linda Fruhvirtova, has made a name for herself at the lower tiers of women's tennis. The 16-year-old has been painstakingly chipping away at her ranking on the ITF Tour and is inching closer to a Top 100 breakthrough.
Her progress on the ITF circuit has been notable and consistent, and she's been outplaying her opponents at that level. In August, she became the youngest player in history to win at least 10 career titles on the ITF, heading an esteemed list containing the likes of Justine Henin, Sania Mirza, and Jelena Ostapenko.
4. Sara Bejlek (17 years old)
Has the Czech Republic unearthed the heir apparent to Petra Kvitova once the veteran steps away? For starters, Bejlek, 17, is also a lefty and crafty baseliner.
Unlike her more accomplished compatriot, she does her best work on clay, where her topspin forehand is such a destructive weapon of choice. Bejlek has reached the semis of the French Open juniors in singles and won the tournament in doubles (2022).
This year, she won her biggest title on the pro tour at the WTA 125K level in Colina, where she outclassed France's Diane Parry. She's determined to break the Top 100 next season and will be one of the players to watch out for at the 2024 Roland Garros.
3. Ashlyn Krueger (19 years old)
Ashlyn Krueger won her maiden WTA title in Osaka last season and earned a place in the world's Top 100 for the first time. There are already similarities floating around that her playing style is not too dissimilar to World No. 4 Elena Rybakina.
At first glance, there is some truth to that claim. Krueger, who hails from Dallas, Texas, is a six-footer armed with a massive serve. But what instantly strikes anyone watching her is her mobility. For her stature, she does incredible defensive work to put herself in attacking positions.
Krueger is ranked 82nd, down from her career high of 73rd, ahead of the new season, and is a name that none of the Top 32 seeds at next year's Australian Open will want to face in the opening round.
The 19-year-old's biggest win so far was against two-time major champion Victoria Azarenka on the grass in Den Bosch. Could she climb even higher in 2024? Definitely.
2. Linda Noskova (19 years old)
Linda Noskova is an exciting young prospect who showed spasmodic moments of brilliance last season and was a tad unfortunate to finish the year empty-handed. Noskova is the youngest player in the world's Top 50 (beating Coco Gauff for that landmark by a few months).
A junior Grand Salm champion, Noskova has reached two WTA finals in her embryonic tennis career. She is leading the conveyor belt of promising Czech youngsters launching to the summit of women's tennis.
At 19, Noskova boasts some high-quality wins over Victoria Azarenka, Ons Jabeur, Daria Kasatkina, and Garbine Muguruza.
1. Mirra Andreeva (16 years old)
It feels a little bit odd to put Mirra Andreeva on this list because she had a standout year by a 16-year-old on the women's tour in recent memory last season. But again, 2023 wasn't even Andreeva's first full season on the WTA tour.
That will happen in 2024, when Andreeva, ranked World No. 57, will qualify for main draw entry at a slew of tour-level tournaments. It's a surreal experience for her. 12 months ago, she was competing on the junior circuit but enjoyed quite a seismic rise at the start of the clay swing.
Andreeva hasn't looked back and is already a contender to win some of tennis' most prestigious tournaments. She has beaten some experienced names on the roster, and the sky appears to be the only limit for her.
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