Lol, this has been the case for months now.

 

I don't think this has ever happened before.

All data points are from December 17 each year, so it could have potentially happened at a different point in the season, but a quick scan of 2022 didn’t show it.

 

Wow, 20 years ago, in 2005 still 20 teenagers in the top 100. 😳

 

Why are there no teenage stars in tennis any more?

There is only one woman under the age of 20 in the top echelon of the game

inews.co.uk

 

It takes far more effort now to enter the top 50 then even 10 years ago cause game has become super physical,people are more prepared then ever before.
Young players just need to get stronger to cath up.
With few exceptions everyone is hitting big,running like crazy etc., even 130 cm tall Jasmine Paolini of all people.

 

Field of good/proper players are very wide today, that's why
Deep field is not a myth...

As for why this could happen, the game has become more physically demanding, and the tour increasingly requires a high level of fitness, mental resilience, and consistency. These factors might favor more experienced players who have developed their physical and mental game over years of competition.

Improvements in sports science, recovery techniques, and fitness have allowed players to prolong their careers. This means older players are staying competitive for longer, which reduces opportunities for younger players to break into the top 100. WTA has become highly competitive, with a deeper pool of skilled players. This means it's harder for teenagers to make an immediate impact or maintain consistency required to stay in the top 100. Young players might take longer to develop both physically and mentally. The WTA tour is rigorous, and the transition from juniors to the professional level can be tough, especially without the necessary support structures.

 

well said + social media can destroy developing people much more easily.

 

We just saw Gauff do it, and it used to be normal. Seles won 8 majors as a teen and had 3 majors left when she was knifed
Hingis won 4 majors by 17 and 2 months
Not sure what is holding back other talented teens. Most players crumble with a very young opponent across the net
See that all the time. Sharapova won a major at 17, 1 month, Kournikova was in Wimbledon semis at 16

 

Swiatek won her first RG when she was 19 and It was clear she was a big deal. No one expects teens to replicate what Seles or Graf did but only 1(!) teenager in the top 100 is a sad look no matter what.

 

Maya is close to joining Mirra! But a big gap after that

 

And ATP has more teens (Mensik, Tien, Fonseca) in the top 100 than the WTA (Andreeva).

RIP WTA

 

It’s unprecedented, but at the same time, we’re actually in a youth boom, relative to the past fifteen years. Ever since Ostapenko won a major at 20y1d or whatever, there’s been a notable uptick in teenagers and younger players achieving milestones and winning things. Yes, the records of Hingis, Austin, and Seles seem pretty well set for a long time, but the past several years have seen a lot “first since Vaidisova” and “first since Kuznetsova in 2004” milestones - Anisimova making a major SF as a 17 year old, Andreescu winning a first major as a teenager, Gauff cracking the top 10 as an 18 year old, and so on.

Almost 30y ear old Keys is the outlier nowadays. The years of a Li Na, Schiavone, Bartoli, Pennetta, or even Kerber breaking through every year or two in their late 20s seems mostly in the past - Keys is our first “geriatric” (28 and older) first-time major winner since Kerber, and that was nearly a decade ago.

Andreescu, Swiatek, and Raducanu all won majors as teenagers, and Ostapenko, Osaka, Gauff, and Kenin each won their first at 20 or 21.

So yes, there are fewer teenagers at the top right now, because that’s how math works, but there are also tons of players who are just recently 20 (only one teen, but six players under 21), as well as a few teens who have already been in the top 100 and fallen out (looking at the Fruhvirtovas), a few teens who look likely to make the top 100 in the next year or so (Joint, Sonobe, Jovic), and a number of barely-20 year olds just outside the top 100 (Montgomery, Todoni, Stakusic, and Ito are all inside the top 120).

 

A comment on reddit said that for most of 2012 Stephens and Babos were the only teens in the top 100

 

Man, when’s the last time anyone thought about Timea Babos?

 

from the great graphs by crbn
there is a big change in the teenage pro WTA tennis players in 1994
1994 is when the WTA created age rules banning the number of events that teenage players can participate in.
Before the age restrictions players like Austin and Capriati were big stars at 15 years old.

 

All these theories but little mention of the age eligibility policy. I mean if you limit the amount of pies people are allowed to eat, there would be less fat people.

 

"Fans shock!"

 

Ngl, even though we’ve had teenage slam champions in the past, It would still feel wierd to me if that happened today lol.

 

....we've had three of 'em in the past six years, though?

 

we had teens winning slams and retiring before 25.... now we hav3 players like keys and Paolini playing best tennis at the end of 20s

 

"Famously formerly a 16 year old" is probably the best headline I've ever seen.

 

Beside the other reasons mentioned in the thread, I wonder if the lower level tournament points changes of the past few years have also had an effect on how quickly players can rise to top100 ("normal" talented kids, not Mirra/Coco level)

 

When the WTA initiated all of these age restrictions it did impact the development of many young players. I am not saying they did not have valid reasons for doing so, there were injuries and some young players (i.e. Capriati) had personal issues that may have been prompted by the "too much, too soon" scenario. Other juniorst might have progressed more quickly in their careers had they not been limited by the number of tournaments they could enter.

So it's been quite a while since we have seen the top 100 filled with a bunch of teenagers. This isn't the 80s anymore and unless the rules are changed again, we probably won't have a bunch of high school age kids in the late rounds of GS events. I think for some the age restrictions helped, both physically it prevented injuries and for others it assisted in their mental health. Even those who have reached the age where they can play a full schedule often mention the pressures they feel and now with social media part of everyday life they have to deal with that as well.

Another thing that has changed is the type of tennis we see at the peak levels. Could a 14 year old baseliner play against a 26 year old on a hardcourt and possibly lose in less than forty minutes. Sure it could happen. Even in today's game we are seeing some lopsided score lines, I am not saying that only a teenager faces that possibility. What I am saying is there would probably be more of these kinds of results if we went back to the days when teenagers filled the draws and players retired at the age of 30. Now we have players taking time off to start a family and then come back, and re-start their careers, that's a great thing. I know Goolagong came back after having a baby but she was one of few, now it seems like it's a possibility for many players to do just that.

It's nice to have a teen ager in the top 100, I think it's best for the game, and the players themselves, to keep the rules regarding age in place. I am sure there are many posters that will disagree with me but, hey, that's one of the reasons why we have TF.

 

When the WTA initiated all of these age restrictions it did impact the development of many young players. I am not saying they did not have valid reasons for doing so, there were injuries and some young players (i.e. Capriati) had personal issues that may have been prompted by the "too much, too soon" scenario. Other juniorst might have progressed more quickly in their careers had they not been limited by the number of tournaments they could enter.

Because it's borderline exploitation or even "pimping". Not just tennis, but gymnastics, swimming, figure skating, etc. have all implemented restrictions for teen prodigies so they don't go pro at 13, peak at 15, and are completely wasted and burnt out by 18, and succumb to drugs or worse while their handlers make off with the spoils. Hell, Capriati even did that, but she cleaned herself up later and had a much better and more stable second career.

The film industry has the same laws regarding child actors. It's not a bad policy. Yes they are talented kids with amazing gifts, but you gotta let kids be kids. It is absolutely unfair to push these girls this hard, this early, and this much, at the expense of everything else in their lives. They are not robots, they are human beings and they feel the pressure to succeed far more these days now that they can be in contact with millions of people. From a pure psychological perspective, giving them a normal life -- going to school, hanging out with friends -- will pay more dividends in their athletic career than spending every waking hour hitting balls like a slave to the game.

Look at all the mental health cases that have come out in recent years. Even when given a balanced work-life schedule, they still crack under pressure and need sabbaticals.

The regulations and controls are so these girls (or whoever is in control of them) don't destroy their lives. We have child labor laws, age of consent laws, and laws against children doing adult things for a reason. Applying the same laws to sports is not a weird idea.

 

I place the blame on Errani!

She's taken her role seriously!

 

what i wonder, as i do never see young tennis players. with the game getting more athletic... haven't the girls/young women also become more athletic? isn't it that we as humans mature earlier and earlier?

the gap widens?

 

What do you mean by mature earlier and earlier?

If you're talking physically I don't think anything has changed.

If you're talking mentally, well then I think it depends which aspect of mentality you're talking about.

People are exposed to thousands more sources of information than they were 20 years ago so that likely has a large impact on them.

 

Since she's the player of the moment, Bencic won the Canada Master in 2015 and then made the top 10 the next year. It was absolutely normal for good players (not only the greats) to have a breakthrough at 18-20 until like yesterday.

 

Hingis and Capriiati was burnt out by the age of 22 In todays game you have many 1st time GS winners at the age of 25 or over plus a lot of players are still playing top tennis in there mid 30s

 

Now in top 10.

Youngest in top 100

 

Joint is close to making top 100 but Mirra remains the only teen in the top 100 atm

 

It helps that she's already 5'11".

The game is bigger and more physical now. Teenagers can still succeed, but that's if they grow up early.