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Over the past few months, there have been a number of teenagers making their presence felt on the WTA Tour. The last teenager to win a Grand Slam title in the women’s game was Maria Sharapova, who was 17 when she won Wimbledon in 2004. And with the WTA’s age-restriction rules which limits players to only a certain number of events before they turn 18, we may not see another teenaged Grand Slam champion for a while now. But these teens, there are 11 in all inside the top 100, and a dozen others between the 100 and 200 ranks, are injecting some fresh air into the women’s game. Here’s a look at the top 10 teenagers in the world based on the rankings for the week of 22nd April.
1 – Laura Robson (Great Britain)
Does not turn 20 years old until – January 2014Current World Ranking – No. 38 (Highest no. 38)Best Junior Ranking – No. 1 (March 2009)Best Junior Performance – Winning Wimbledon juniors in 2008 as a 14 year old; also reached the finals of the Australian Open juniors in 2009 and 2010Last played juniors – September 2010Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Won the Olympic mixed doubles silver medal with Andy Murray; Beat #25 Kim Clijsters and #9 Li Na to reach the fourth round of the 2012 US Open; became first British woman in 22 years to reach a WTA Final in Guangzhou last September; defeated #8 Petra Kvitova to reach the third round of the Australian Open this January.
2 – Kristina Mladenovic (France)
Does not turn 20 years old until – May 2013Current World Ranking – No. 51 (Highest No. 48 in March 2013)Best Junior Ranking – No. 1 (June 2009)Best Junior Performance – Won French Open juniors in 2009Last played juniors – December 2009Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Defeated 3 top 25 players (#19 Julia Georges, #22 Yanina Wickmayer and #8 Petra Kvitova) to reach the semis at the WTA Paris Indoors in February; also reached the semis of WTA events in Quebec City and Florianopolis; won the WTA $125K Challenger in Taipei; and has 4 WTA doubles titles to her credit
3 – Annika Beck (Germany)
Does not turn 20 years old until – February 2014Current World Ranking – No. 60 (Highest no. 60)Best Junior Ranking – No. 24 (July 2012)Best Junior Performance – Won French Open juniors in 2012Last played juniors – June 2012Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Won 5 ITF titles last year, all coming post July; has wins over #25 Su Wei-Hseih and #28 Yaroslava Shvedova; reached her firstWTA semi-final in Katowice this month
4 – Madison Keys (USA)
Does not turn 20 years old until – February 1995Current World Ranking – No. 63 (Highest no. 62 in April 2013)Best Junior Ranking –No. 16 (September 2011)Best Junior Performance – Third round at Wimbledon juniors in 2011Last played juniors – September 2011Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Reached the quarters in Charleston last month; defeated #30 Tamira Paszek to reach the third round of the Australian Open; as a qualifier, defeated #17 Lucie Safarova en route to quarter-finals of WTA Sydney where she nearly knocked out Li Na.
5 – Lauren Davis (USA)
Does not turn 20 years old until – October 2013Current World Ranking – No. 66 (Highest no. 63 in April 2013)Best Junior Ranking – No. 3 (December 2010)Best Junior Performance – Won Eddie Herr & Orange Bowl titles in 2010Last played juniors – January 2011Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – As a qualifier, defeated #27 Yanina Wickmayer en route to reaching quarters in Quebec City last year; came through qualifying and beat #27 Sorana Cirstea to reach quarters in Hobart and reached quarters at Monterrey this year
6 – Garbine Muguruza (Spain)
Does not turn 20 years old until – October 1993Current World Ranking – No. 79 (Highest No. 73 in March 2013)Best Junior Ranking –No. 302 (January 2011)Best Junior Performance – 2nd round of French Open juniors in 2010Last played juniors – October 2011Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Defeated #9 Vera Zvonerava and #26 Flavia Pennetta to reach the 4th round in Miami in 2012; quarter-finals at WTA Fes; defeated #19 Ekaterina Makarova to reach 4th round in Indian Wells last month; defeated #9 Caroline Wozniacki and #25 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach 4th round in Miami last month
7 – Donna Vekic (Crotia)
Does not turn 20 years old until – June 2016Current World Ranking – No. 82 (Highest no. 82)Best Junior Ranking – No. 21 (January 2012)Best Junior Performance – Quarter-Finals at Wimbledon juniors in 2012Last played juniors – July 2012Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Reached finals of first WTA main draw event in Tashkent. In the process, became the youngest WTA finalist in six years
8 – Jana Cepelova (Slovakia)
Does not turn 20 years old until – May 2013Current World Ranking – No. 84 (Highest no. 83 in April 2013)Best Junior Ranking – No. 8 (February 2010)Best Junior Performance – Quarter-finals at US Open juniors in 2009Last played juniors – June 2011Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Qualified and beat #28 Anabel Medina Garrigues to reach the third round at Wimbledon in 2012; qualified and reached the third round in Washington last August; quarter finalist at Florianopolis this year
9 – Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)
Does not turn 20 years old until – September 2014Current World Ranking – No. 89 (Highest no. 87 in February 2013)Best Junior Ranking –No. 1 (June 2010)Best Junior Performance – Won French Open juniors in 2010, reached Wimbledon juniors final in 2012Last played juniors – July 2012Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Won the WTA $125K Challenger in Pune and reached the semis of the WTA$125K Challenger in Cali, Colombia
10 – Eugenie Bouchard (Canada)
Does not turn 20 years old until – February 1994Current World Ranking – No. 92 (Highest no. 92)Best Junior Ranking – No. 2 (July 2012)Best Junior Performance – Won Wimbledon juniors in 2012Last played juniors – September 2010Best Performance on the Pro Circuit – Reached quarters in Charleston beating #42 Laura Robson and #9 Samantha Stosur (retired injured in the second set)
