NEW YORK (AP) — There is a fascination in all sports — all walks of life, maybe — with young stars, those such as tennis player Mirra Andreeva, a Russian who is still only 18 yet already has been a Grand Slam semifinalist and is seeded No. 5 at the U.S. Open as it begins Sunday.
Or João Fonseca, a Brazilian who turned 19 on Thursday and just last month became the youngest man since 2011 to reach Wimbledon’s third round. Or Learner Tien, a Californian who is 19, already owns four victories over top-10 opponents and takes on Novak Djokovic at Flushing Meadows on Sunday night.
Or Vicky Mboko, a Canadian who is 18 and won the National Bank Open hard-court title in Montreal this month while becoming the second-youngest woman to beat four Grand Slam champions at one tournament, eliminating Naomi Osaka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Sofia Kenin.
Andreeva, Fonseca, Tien and Mboko are part of a precocious group of teenagers making a mark in tennis this season, perhaps ready to follow in the footsteps of someone like Gauff, who won the 2023 U.S. Open at 19 and this year’s French Open at 21, or Emma Raducanu, who won the 2021 U.S. Open at 18.
Andreeva, Fonseca, Tien, Mboko are teens to watch at the U.S. Open
Just listen to what’s being said already.
“A lot of people inside tennis believe Fonseca will be one of the guys contending for Slams within a year or two,” said former top-five player James Blake, “if he can avoid all that noise and avoid all the outside pressure.”
Gauff’s take on Mboko: “I do see someone who is going to have a really bright future.”
When terrific results arrive early, expectations rise. Which means, in turn, that when not-quite-as-good results follow, the burden can feel heavy.
Andreeva is the youngest woman in the top 5 since Maria Sharapova
As talented and precocious as Andreeva is, as savvy as she is on the court and off, if she goes from making it to the final four at the French Open in 2024 to bowing out a round earlier against someone ranked 361st in 2025, or goes from reaching the fourth round at the All England Club two years ago to exiting in the first round there a year ago, people ask: What happened?
Perhaps that’s why Andreeva used the word “learn” in her responses to four of the first six questions at Roland-Garros after her loss there in June. As in: “I will learn from this.”
Then she went out and reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon for the first time.
Which makes sense, because if there is one thing that seems to strike everyone — from opponents to her coach to her doubles partner, Diana Shnaider — about Andreeva, it’s not just that she is always trying to get better but also that she manages to.
Mboko is seeded at the US Open after being No. 350 at the end of 2024
The same could be said for Mboko, whose run in front of raucous home crowds to her first WTA trophy propelled her from No. 85 to No. 24 and a seeding at Flushing Meadows, where she takes on two-time major champion Barbora Krejcikova on Monday.
“Now it’s not like: ‘Oh, let’s see. Let’s watch out for this kid.’ Now it’s like, ‘OK, you have to be there and we have to be able to maintain your level,’ said Andreeva’s coach, 1994 Wimbledon champion Conchita Martinez. “The hardest thing is also the pressure of some media: ‘She’s going to be the next No. 1. She’s going to win Grand Slams’ and blah, blah, blah.”
Andreeva won Masters titles at Dubai and Indian Wells this year and is the youngest woman since Maria Sharapova in 2004 to be ranked in the top five. Mboko ended last year ranked 350th and never had entered a major until the French Open but won matches there and at Wimbledon.
“She believes in herself,” said Mboko’s coach, former player Nathalie Tauziat.
Maya Joint, Jakub Mensik and Iva Jović are other US Open teens
Maya Joint, a 19-year-old who represents Australia, won a grass-court title by saving four championship points and earned her debut in the top 50. Jakub Mensik, who is from the Czech Republic and turns 20 on Sept. 6, won the Miami Open by beating Djokovic in the final and is seeded 16th in New York. Iva Jović is a Californian who is 17 and has won a match in three of four Slam appearances.
“It can bridge from inspiration to reality when you see young, talented teens making big waves on the professional level,” Jović said. “It’s pretty much: Why not me?”
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
