Three 16-Year-Olds Set To Feature In Women's Main Draw At 2024 Australian Open
The teenagers are seemingly taking over women's Grand Slam tournaments as it was customary three to four decades ago, at least at the 2024 Australian Open.
This is a very interesting and timely question, considering the last WTA player to win a Grand Slam tournament was a teenager. 19-year-old Coco Gauff defeated Aryna Sabalenka to capture her maiden major title at the 2023 US Open.
Gauff is among the favorites to add to her Grand Slam cabinet at the 2024 Australian Open, where she will lead a pack of teenagers, including those projected to break through in 2024. These include Linda Noskova, Ashlyn Krueger, and Sara Bejlek.
But fascinatingly enough, the aforementioned trio's ages range between 17 and 19. And this year's Australian Open will feature an even younger cohort who are only 16 years of age. One of them has already made waves on the senior tour this past year.
Currently, Mirra Andreeva is the most prominent 16-year-old on the WTA tour, having broken the world's Top 50 and earned multiple Top 20 scalps in her young career. At this time last year, Andreeva embarked on playing in the Australian Open girls' tournament.
Fast forward to 12 months; her development has been seismic and meteoric. Is she the most complete 16-year-old of her generation? At this moment, the answer is an emphatic yes. Unlike the other two girls on this list, Andreeva qualified for her first senior Australian Open main draw through her ranking.
The next 16-year-old is Alina Korneeva, who is Andreeva's compatriot and rival on the junior circuit. Incidentally, she won last year's Australian Open junior tournament, beating Andreeva in the final. She previously held a career-best ranking of World No. 156 in the main tour.
She was gritty throughout her qualifying draw, beating more experienced players like Sachia Vickery and Anna Bondar to reach the main draw stage for the first time. Korneeva will play Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo, ranked 53 in the world.
Lastly, Brenda Fruhvirtova, the younger sister of Fruhvirtova, punched her ticket into the main draw. Brenda has been a class above the rest of the field on the ITF tour in the last 12 months, where she became the first player - man or woman - to win 12 or more titles on the ITF before turning 17.
Fruhvirtova was terrific in qualifying for her first Australian Open, dropping just one set in three matches, and has a seemingly winnable opener against Romania's Ana Bogdan, who, at 31, is almost twice her age.
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