Last year’s US Open final featured two teenagers for the first time since the 1999 US Open — where a 17-year-old Serena Williams won her first major title against an 18-year-old Martina Hingis.

At the 2021 Grand Slam, unseeded 18-year-old Emma Raducanu beat out unseeded 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez for her own inaugural major title.

In total, teenagers have won 11 US Open women’s singles titles during the Open era, dating back to 16-year-old Tracy Austin’s win at Flushing Meadows in 1979.

As Williams prepares for her final US Open and Raducanu prepares for her title defense, Just Women’s Sports takes a look at five teenagers who could make waves at this year’s tournament.

Coco Gauff

While Raducanu and Fernandez are both 19 as the tournament begins, the obvious choices will not be included on our list. But nestled between No. 11 Raducanu and No. 14 Fernandez in the world rankings sits No. 12 Coco Gauff.

In June, the same month in which she graduated from high school, the American made – and subsequently lost – her first Grand Slam final at the French Open. Still, the loss showed that the 18-year-old is ready to step onto the sport’s biggest stages.

Since then, she’s rocketed to No. 1 in the doubles world rankings, and she is oh so close on the singles side.

She represents the leading edge of the next generation of American tennis, a heavy burden to bear with Williams’ retirement approaching. Still, Gauff has taken the pressure in stride.

And if Gauff is truly the next American superstar, then it would be all too fitting for her first major to come at the US Open that is to be the final chapter for one of the game’s all-time-greats.

Gauff’s health could be a question mark, as she had to pull out of the Cincinnati Open after rolling her ankle in the first round, but she has described the injury as “really minor.”

Qinwen Zheng

Ranked at a career-high No. 41, 19-year old Qinwen Zheng is another player who has the talent to make a deep run.

Zheng turned heads at the French Open in May. In her fourth-round match, she won a set in a tiebreak against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who was in the midst of her 37-match win streak. In a show of Swiatek’s dominance but also Zheng’s ability, the set was the only one Swiatek dropped en route to the title at Roland Garros.

The Chinese teen followed that up with a win against 2018 US Open champion Sloane Stephens at Wimbledon. Zheng made it to the third round before losing to eventual champion Elena Rybakina.

In her most recent tournament, she became the first Chinese player to advance to the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open since Na Li in 2013. While No. 1 seed Ons Jabeur had to retire in their second-round match, Zheng took the first set of that match 6-1. She backed up that walkover with a win over Bianca Andreescu before falling in three sets to Karolina Pliskova.

What a finish! #NBO22

19-year-old Qinwen Zheng takes down Canada's own Andreescu 7-5 5-7 6-2 to reach the Quarterfinals! Faces Pliskova next. pic.twitter.com/YWSU3V6X78

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 12, 2022

Clara Tauson

At 19 years old, Clara Tauson of Denmark has made a splash. The youngest Danish champion since Caroline Wozniacki, she turned pro in 2019.

While she currently sits 58th in the world, Tauson has risen as high as 33rd. She won 42 matches in her breakout 2021 season.

Her best major finish so far came at the Australian Open in January, as she upset sixth-seeded Anett Kontaveit in the second round before falling to Danielle Collins in the third.

A month later, she made her WTA 1000 main draw debut in Qatar, where she beat Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in straight sets before losing to third-seeded Paula Badosa. And a month after that, at Indian Wells, she advanced to the third round before losing in three sets to eventual champion Swiatek during her streak.

Tauson has dealt with back injuries since then, however, having to withdraw from the Italian Open and Wimbledon. At the Cincinnati Open she was ousted in the first qualifying round by Ajla Tomlajanovic in straight sets, but she bested Harmony Tan in the round of 32 at Tennis in the Land.

Diane Parry

Diane Parry has had a career year, reaching the third round at both the French Open and Wimbledon. Ranked at a career-high No. 76, the 18-year-old is coming off a loss in the Cincinnati qualifiers – but it came in three sets against eventual champion Caroline Garcia.

Parry is one of just two players in the top 100 to play with a single-handed backhand, but she uses the relatively rare shot to her advantage.

She made an impression at Roland Garros, knocking off defending champion Barbora Krejcikova in three sets in the first round. At the same tournament in 2019, a 16-year-old Parry became the youngest woman to win a main-draw match at the major since 2009.

At Wimbledon, she beat former world No. 15 Kaia Kanepi in straight sets before losing to third-seeded Ons Jabeur in the third round.

🇫🇷 Teenage Dream 🇫🇷

19-year-old Diane Parry dethrones defending champion Krejcikova 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 to become the lowest-ranked woman to beat the No.2 seed in Paris since No.114 Rus upset Clijsters in 2011#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/WcGUtJYoiW

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 23, 2022

Linda Nosková

In the first round at the French Open in May, Nosková lost to Raducanu in three sets after taking the first in a tiebreak. The loss came after the 17-year-old made her way through qualifiers as the reigning junior 2021 Roland Garros champion, becoming the youngest qualifier at the major in 13 years.

Nosková has been more active on the lower-tier ITF tour this year, winning in Germany and France and making the semifinals of tournaments in Kazakhstan and Spain. But her two WTA events this year, Nosková made it to the semifinals.

In Prague, she beat Alizé Cornet in the fourth round before losing to Marie Bouzkova in the semis, while at the Makarska Open in Croatia she had an easy time reaching the semifinals before falling to Jule Niemeier.

With those runs, the world No. 88 became just the second player born after 2004 to make a WTA semifinal, joining Gauff.

Into her first career Tour-level quarterfinal 👏

🇨🇿 Linda Noskova defeats Cornet to reach the last eight in Prague!#PragueOpen pic.twitter.com/4HYlIXlJ3v

— wta (@WTA) July 28, 2022

As the 2025/26 European club season shifts into full gear, a spike in ACL injuries is shedding new light on the increasingly dense women's soccer calendar.

Germany and Bayern Munich star Lena Oberdorf ruptured her right ACL during her club's Bundesliga match on Sunday, just weeks after the 23-year-old midfielder returned to play from rehabbing the same injury — in the same right knee.

"To now face a second such setback is incredibly hard," said Bayern Munich director of women's football Bianca Rech. "We are fully by Lena's side, will support her as best we can in her recovery and be there for her in every way."

Oberdorf is far from alone, with over 20 ACL injuries impacting multiple women's soccer leagues across the world in just the last three months.

Arsenal goalkeeper and Austrian international Manuela Zinsberger went down with an ACL tear during the Gunners' 2025/26 Champions League match last week, joining standouts like midfielder Sarah Zadrizil (Bayern Munich/Austria), striker Sophie Román Haug (Liverpool/Norway), forward Liana Joseph (OL Lyonnes/France), and midfielder Maite Oroz (Tottenham/Spain) on the injury's mounting hit list.

ACL injuries have long plagued the women's game, with FIFPRO recently developing the Project ACL research initiative to investigate and alleviate the issue.

The USWNT kicks off the first of their three October friendlies on Thursday night, facing Portugal as the team takes the pitch for the first time in nearly four months.

The matchup marks the first meeting between the two nations since the tense 0-0 group-stage finale at the 2023 World Cup that saw the USWNT narrowly advance to the knockouts.

"[Portugal] is a very good team," US midfielder Lindsey Heaps said earlier this week. "Many times that we've played them before, we get a tough game and a tough matchup."

The game also provides a glimpse of an evolving USWNT roster, bringing together NWSL standouts and European club stars ahead of next fall's World Cup qualifiers.

"That's the key right now — we need to finalize [the roster] in the next two years, and obviously leading up to qualification," continued Heaps. "That's an exciting process right now."

"It's just getting everyone together, everyone on the same page and know what the standards and levels are," she added. "What it takes to qualify for a World Cup."

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How to watch the USWNT vs. Portugal on Thursday

The world No. 2 USWNT will kick off a trio of friendlies with a match against No. 23 Portugal at 7 PM ET on Thursday.

The clash will air live across TNT, Peacock, and HBO Max.

The Toronto Tempo have apparently landed a head coach, with The IX Sports reporting Wednesday that the WNBA expansion side tapped ex-New York boss Sandy Brondello as their sideline leader for the team's 2026 season debut.

The Liberty parted ways with Brondello following New York's first-round exit in the playoffs last month — less than a year after the 20-year WNBA coaching veteran led the team to their first-ever championship.

Toronto expects to make the deal with Brondello official in the next few days, as soon as the parties finalize the terms of the contract.

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After her dismissal from the Liberty, Brondello reportedly fielded significant interest from several WNBA teams, opting to join the upstart squad as the Tempo continues to build out their front office.

Toronto brought on WNBA champion Monica Wright Rogers as GM in February 2025, later appointing longtime LA Sparks assistant GM Eli Horowitz as the new franchise's assistant GM and senior VP of basketball strategy.

With the Tempo now following fellow 2026 expansion side Portland in securing sideline leaders this month, the WNBA now has three vacancies remaining in its coaching carousel, with the Seattle Storm, Dallas Wings, and New York still searching for their next leaders.

Both the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire will now hope for clarity from the league's ongoing CBA negotiations in order to prep for an expected expansion draft and free agency period in early 2026.

Fresh off her rookie WNBA season, Seattle Storm star Dominique Malonga is causing a stir overseas, abruptly withdrawing from her offseason contract with Turkish club Fenerbahçe this week — and creating controversy in her wake.

Malonga initially signed a three-year deal with the two-time Euroleague champions in March before she "unilaterally terminated her professional player contract with our club without any just cause," according to a Fenerbahçe social media post on Monday.

"We inform the public that we will exercise all our legal rights to seek compensation for any material and moral damages incurred by our club during this process," the team continued.

While she didn't disclose a reason for leaving Istanbul, the 19-year-old did reveal that she recently required surgery to repair a dislocated tendon in her wrist, estimating that she'd be in a cast for six weeks.

The 2025 WNBA Draft overall No. 2 pick finished her debut WNBA season averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, earning herself a spot on the stacked 2025 All-Rookie Team.

Should the contract dispute remain unresolved, Fenerbahçe could attempt to disrupt Malonga's second season in Seattle due to a longstanding "letter of clearance" rule requiring approval from both the WNBA and Europe's FIBA before athletes can move between leagues.

Front Office Sports reported on Tuesday that while the WNBA signed off on the 19-year-old's Turkish contract, Fenerbahçe could deny her ability to return to the US league "under the condition that she violated the terms of her contract."

"If the season tips off in May as it did in 2025, this would give Fenerbahçe and Malonga about six months to rectify any potential dispute and clear her for a WNBA return," warned FOS.