3) Naomi Osaka
All of 19, Osaka has already been labeled as the next big star in women's tennis.
She first made news when she won the WTA Rising Stars Invitational in 2015, a tournament organized alongside the WTA Finals in Singapore. Her father hails from Haiti, while her mother is Japanese.
While she was born in Japan, she grew up mostly in the US. Osaka trains in Florida, but represents Japan and is supported by the Japanese Tennis Association.
Standing at 5ft 11in, the tall Osaka possesses a huge serve, and has big groundstrokes on both flanks, with the forehand being her weapon. Osaka is a must-follow on Snapchat and Instagram too, posting quirky stuff regularly.
She already has a huge fan following in Japan, recently signing a huge deal with the popular Japanese food brand Nissin.
Osaka has made a humongous jump in the rankings this year, jumping 156 spots from 203, to being ranked 47. She is the youngest player in the top 50, and was named the WTA newcomer of the year on the back of her brilliant performances this season.
Qualifying into the first Grand Slam of her career at the Australian Open, Osaka made a serious first impression, reaching the third round, before losing to former world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
She made the third round at the French Open as well, losing to former No. 2 Simona Halep in three sets.
While a right knee injury forced her to skip Wimbledon, Osaka continued from where she had left off at the French Open, reaching the third round of the US Open, losing a nail-biter to home favourite Madison Keys at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Post the US Open, Osaka made the final of her home tournament in Tokyo, much to the delight of her home crowd.
Three third-round appearances in their first three Grand Slams is a serious achievement for any tennis player, let alone a 19-year relative rookie.
While her game has a lot of raw potential, there are a flaws that could do with a bit of work. First is definitely her movement on court, and the other being controlling the number of unforced errors on the free flowing backhand side. Once she's taken care of all that, she can do big-time damage, specially with a game that's as explosive as hers.
