Here’s a Fab Five who could rule the courts

THIS youthful fivesome has shaken up tennis and can dominate the women’s game for years to come...

EMMA RADUCANU (Great Britain) Ranking 32 (new ranking) Age 18yrs 10mths

Born in Toronto to a Romanian father and Chinese mother, Raducanu moved to Britain at the age of two and three years later began hitting a tennis ball. She took Wimbledon by storm as a wild card, reaching the fourth round when ranked 338th in the world. Now the bubbly

Brit has charmed New York by becoming the first qualifier to reach the US Open final… and she didn’t drop a set in eight matches en route. LEYLAH FERNANDEZ (Canada)

Ranking 27 (new ranking) Age 19yrs

The other teenager causing a stir in the Big Apple. Fernandez was born to a Ecuadorian father and Filipino-Canadian mother. She won her first WTA tournament in Monterrey in March. But it is her US Open run that has had fans sit up and take notice. She has beaten former champions Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber and then world No5 Elina Svitolina and world No2 Aryna Sabalenka on her way to the final.

COCO GAUFF (United States) Ranking 19 Age 17yrs 6mths

An aggressive baseline player, she entered Wimbledon in 2019 as a 15-year-old qualifier and faced former champion Venus Williams in the first round. In a changing of the guard moment, Gauff won 6-2 6-3. She has won two WTA titles and reached the quarterfinals of this year’s French Open. With her parents having college backgrounds in basketball and athletics, she certainly has the sporting genes.

BIANCA ANDREESCU (Canada) Ranking 8 Age 21yrs 3mths

Although troubled by injury for large parts of her career, Andreescu showed her potential in 2019 when she rose from 152nd in the world to No5. It was her breakthrough year that included winning the Indian Wells Open and victory against Serena Williams in the US Open final, becoming the first teenager to win a Grand Slam since Maria Sharapova in 2006.

NAOMI OSAKA (Japan) Ranking 3 Age 23yrs 11mths

The oldest of the quintet and the flag-bearer for the new brigade. Born in Japan and raised in America, Osaka turned professional at 15 and won her first Grand Slam in 2018 when she beat Serena Williams in a tempestuous US Open final.

She grabbed that title again in 2020 and has won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2020. She has been a vocal activist for racial equality and recently took time out because of stress.