Winning a Grand Slam in the dream of any tennis professional and doing so in the teenage is an absolutely rarae accomplishment. This can be judged by the fact that only a handful of players in the Open Era have been able to become teenage Grand Slam champions. We look at those female tennis players who were able to win a Slam before turning 20.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
The former Australian World Number 1 became the 1st female player on the Open Era to win a Grand Slam in her teenage. Born in 1951 Evonne won her 1st Grand Slam at the French Open 1971 at the age of 19 years and 309 days.
She would later go on to win 7 Slams in her career, which made her one of the best female tennis players that Australian has ever produced.
Chris Evert
Evert is regarded as the queen of clay and deservingly won her 1st Grand Slam at the red clay of Roland Garros 1974 at the age of 19 years and 176 days.
More titles would come in France and other Slams and Chris won 18 singles Slams before retiring from professional tennis. Evert won 7 of those 18 slams in the French Open.
Tracy Austin
This Californian star would stun the world when she won her 1st Grand Slam at her home tournament of US Open 1979 at mere 16 years and 270 days of age. Austin would repeat her success in the US Open again in 1981.
She however was not able to win any other singles slam or reach the finals and finished her singles career as the 2 time US Open Champion.
Hana Mandlíková
Mandlíková won the 1st of her 4 Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1980. She was just 18 years and 329 days of age then, making her one of the youngest females to lift a Grand Slam.
In her Career Mandlíková would win 4 Grand Slams, two of whom came in Australia and 1 each at France and the US Open.
Steffi Graf
The great German athlete began to show the signs of genius since her early age. Steffi, a holder of 22 singles Grand Slams would win her 1st at the 1987 French Open at the age of 17 years and 357 days.
More success would follow in the same tournament where she would lift 6 singles and 3 doubled Grand Slam trophies.
Arantxa Sanchez
Sanchez was the 1st Spanish woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title. She won 4 Slams in her Career, 3 of which came at Roland Garros and 1 at the US Open.
The 1989 French Open was Sanchez’s 1st singles Grand Slam at it came when she was aged just 17 years and 174 days. This makes her one of the youngest ever players to win a Grand Slam.
Monica Seles
Monica displayed her genius at the tennis court in those 3 prime years of 1990 to 1992 before the stabbing incident happened. In those 3 years Seles would rule the tennis courts worldwide except the lawns of Wimbledon.
In those 3 years, Seles won 8 slams, the 1st of which would come at French Open, 1990 when she was 16 years and 189 days old.
Martina Hingis
This Czech born Swiss was known for her precocious talent since very young age. This was fully actualized when she lifted her 1st Slam title at just 16 years and 117 days of age in the Australian Open 1997.
That year she would go on to win Wimbledon and the US Open also. Hingis won 5 singles slams and would easily have had many more if not halted by injuries in her career.
Serena Williams
The younger of Williams sisters is now arguably the best female tennis athlete America even produced. Serena has so far won 23 Grand Slams titles in her singles career.
The 1st of these came in the 1999 US Open when she was 17 years and 350 days old. Serena has since then displayed extreme longevity and looks set to cross Margaret Court’s slam record of 24 Majors.
Maria Sharapova
The Russian sensation lifted her 1st Grand Slam in 2004 Wimbledon at 17 years and 75 days of age. Sharapova would defeat the 2 time defending champion and the overwhelming favorite Serena Williams in the final.
It was from this match that the much talked about rivalry of Serena and Sharapova started.
Bianca Andreescu
Bianca is the latest addition to the list of teen Grand Slam winners. She would defeat the 6 time US Open champion Serena Williams in the 2019 US Open final to lift her 1st Grand Slam champion.
Bianca was aged just 19 years and 83 days when she lifted the title and looks destined for many more in the future.