Coco Gauff, still only 21, welcomes next generation peers as teens surge at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia—When a player is on tour for the better part of a decade they’re often asked about the next generation, the horde of young rising stars following in that veteran’s footsteps.

It’s a little awkward when that question is put to Coco Guaff who is arguably very much a part of this encroaching Next Gen.

“The way people ask those questions make it seem like I'm way older than them,” the 21-year-old said with a laugh, “and I have been around longer, obviously. But yeah, they're always, like, ‘Do you have any advice to give them,’ or things like that.

“I'm, like, ‘You guys, these are, like, my peers. We are the same. We are hanging out. We're in the same age group.’”

Indeed, Gauff is only three years than Mirra Andreeva and fellow quarterfinalist Iva Jovic, and barely two years older than Victoria Mboko, all of whom stormed into the second week of the 2026 Australian Open. But where Jovic and Mboko have only entered the WTA tapestry in the last six months, the reigning Roland Garros champion has been plugging away since her 15th birthday, making her debut at the 2019 Miami Open.

She beat Venus Williams later that year at Wimbledon and the rest was history, but it was a different story behind the scenes as a teenaged Gauff tried to navigate a locker room of women in their 20s and 30s.

“Some players [were] just…I wouldn't say mean, but it was stand-offish, and it was a different world than I was used to in juniors,” Gauff recalled, expressing relief that her contemporaries have at last joined her on the professional circuit. “So I think that was a hard transition of having friends in juniors, and coming on pro and no one talking to you.

“There weren't many people around that were my age. It was very lonely for me, honestly. So, it's great to have, like, more people of my age range doing better, so I can see them at tournaments more, because I had a lot of friends, but we weren't playing the same tournaments. It was tough to keep up with those relationships.”

At No. 3 in the world, Gauff is still the youngest player in the Top 5 by some margin, but the second-youngest in the Top 10 thanks to Andreeva’s inclusion at No. 7 The next generation now boasts 14 women under 22 in the Top 100. The result is a much more socially fulfilling experience for Gauff, who partnered fellow youngster Alexandra Eala for doubles at the Inernazionali BNL d’Italia last spring.

“I felt like the last couple of years or maybe last two years on tour have been some of my happiest, even though maybe the tennis has been up and down, just because you see more friendly faces in the locker room that you can actually be with. Obviously, there is Jess [Pegula] and Madi [Keys], but they're a little bit old, so we don't always connect on the same things!”

Looking to leave the locker room better than she found it, Gauff discussed the importance of welcoming her Next Gen peers as they adjust to life on tour—even as the competitive fire burns for a third major title.

“I always make a conscious effort, even though I didn't know her that well, but in Cincinnati I tried to talk to her,” Gauff said of an introductory chat with Jovic last summer. “Just a conscious effort of talking to the younger players

“Even if I don't know them, just saying ‘Hi’ or saying ‘Good luck,’ and then you start to talk and then you become friends, and it's cool.”

Into her 10th career Grand Slam quarterfinal after overcoming Karolina Muchova in three sets, Gauff will aim to continue flying the Next Gen flag in her last-eight clash against either Andreeva or No. 12 seed Elina Svitolina.