The top 10 youngest world no.1 female tennis players

The top 10 youngest world no.1 female tennis players

Kevin Omuya
March 12, 2024 at 12:41 PM
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Being ranked number one in the world and number one in the WTA rankings is a tremendous accomplishment in tennis. Although numerous athletes have achieved esteemed status throughout the years, very few have done it at such a tender age. This article will focus on the top ten youngest world no. 1 tennis female players.

Best youngest female tennis players globally
Steffi Graf of Germany, Coco Gauff of the United States and Martina Hingis of Switzerland. Photo: Simon Bruty, Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Source: UGC

Table of Сontents:

Their incredible talent and determination were on full display on their road to becoming the youngest female tennis player to reach the top of the world rankings. They have shown great court talents and the resilience to deal with the stresses and strains of playing at the sport's highest level, propelling them to the top of the rankings at such a young age.

World no. 1 tennis female players

The list of the youngest female number 1 tennis players is based on credible sports sources. Below is the list of the youngest female tennis players who were (and who are currently) the best the tennis world has ever seen.

Name of player

Age of debut

Iga Świątek

19

Coco Gauff

19

Emma Radacanu

18

Qinwen Zheng

20

Marta Kostyuk

14

Maria Sharapova

18

Steffi Graf

18

Tracy Austin

17

Monica Seles

17

Martina Hingis

16

10. Iga Świątek: 22 years of age as of March 2024

No.1 youngest female tennis player from Poland
Iga Swiatek of Poland talks to the media ahead of the National Bank Open, part of the Hologic WTA Tour, at Sobeys Stadium on August 6, 2022, in Toronto, Ontario. Photo: Robert Prange
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: May 31, 2001
  • Nationality: Polish

Being the first Polish player to win a major singles championship, Świątek won the French Open in 2020 and 2022 and the US Open in 2022. She became the fourth woman to win the Sunshine Double in 2022 and has twelve WTA Tour-level championships.

During that remarkable run, she won 37 consecutive matches, the most tremendous winning streak on the WTA Tour this century. By 2022, she had also broken Serena Williams' 2013 record of 11,000 ranking points in a single season, becoming the first player to do so, states Eurosport.

9. Coco Gauff: 19 years

World no.1 youngest American female tennis player
Cori "Coco" Gauff of The United States celebrates match point in her Ladies' Singles third round match against Kaja Juvan of Slovenia on July 03, 2021, in London, England. Photo: Jed Leicester
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: March 13, 2004
  • Nationality: American

At age fifteen, Gauff became the youngest player to win a singles championship on the WTA Tour since 2004 when she won the Linz Open in 2019. Also, Gauff earned a household name in 2019 after becoming the youngest women's tennis player to qualify for the Wimbledon Championship's main draw.

In the opening round, she defeated Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam winner and former World No. 1 tennis player. She then retired in the fourth round.

8. Emma Radacanu: 21 years

British no.1 youngest female tennis player
Emma Raducanu of Great Britain during practice on Day 1 of the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, on February 11, 2024, in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Robert Prange
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: November 13, 2002
  • Nationality: British

Emma's WTA Tour debut was in the summer of 2021 when she received a wildcard entry into Wimbledon. But Raducanu made her tennis debut in the 2021 US Open when she became the first Open Era singles qualifier to win a Grand Slam title without losing a set.

She has the record for most majors played before earning a title in the Open Era, which she achieved at the second Grand Slam tournament of her career. She was formerly ranked 10th, but injuries have caused her to fall.

7. Qinwen Zheng: 21 years

No.1 Chinese youngest female tennis player
Qinwen Zheng of China in action against Nao Hibino of Japan on February 20, 2024, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photo: Robert Prange
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: October 8, 2002
  • Nationality: Chinese

Zheng Qinwen, a player from China, is a rising star who was named the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2022. She joined Coco Gauff as the season's other teenage player to reach the WTA 500 level.

When Zheng made it to the WTA Tour final in 2022 at Japan's Pan Pacific Open, she was the first young Chinese to do it. Only two teenagers that season reached a WTA 500-level or higher final; she was the second. Last September, she made history by becoming the first Chinese adolescent to be ranked in the top 30 globally.

6. Marta Kostyuk: 21 years

No.1 youngest Ukranian female tennis player
Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk reacts after a point against Russia's Maria Timofeeva during their women's singles match on January 21, 2024. Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: June 28, 2002
  • Nationality: Ukrainian

Marta Kostyuk has had a successful start to the year, winning the inaugural ATX Open in March for the first time as a WTA Tour singles player. The 20-year-old Ukrainian is riding high after her maiden tour title and will be looking to add to her trophy haul and make a grand slam statement this year.

5. Maria Sharapova: 36 years

No.1 youngest Russian female tennis player
Maria Sharapova holds the Evonne Goolagong Cawley trophy at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens on January 11, 2015, in Brisbane, Australia. Photo: Chris Hyde
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: April 19, 1987
  • Nationality: Russian

At seventeen, Sharapova stunned tennis fans in 2004 by defeating Serena Williams in the Wimbledon final to claim her maiden Grand Slam singles title. During her career, she won five Grand Slam singles championships, including Wimbledon, two French Opens (2012 and 2014), an Australian Open in 2008, a US Open in 2006, and one more trophy at the French Open.

In addition to her Grand Slam victories, Sharapova won 36 singles titles on the WTA Tour, where she was notoriously consistent and fiercely competitive. She has had 21 weeks ranked #1 worldwide during her career, which she initially accomplished in 2005.

Disagreements arose throughout Sharapova's career. As per WTA Tennis, she was banned from tennis for two years after testing positive for the banned drug meldonium in 2016. In February 2020, she announced her retirement from professional tennis.

4. Steffi Graf: 54 years

No.1 youngest German female tennis player
Steffi Graf of Germany with the winner trophy after defeating Martina Hingis of Switzerland at Tennis Club de Paris in Paris, France on June 5th, 1999. Photo: Simon Bruty
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: June 14, 1969
  • Nationality: German

She was the undisputed champion of the Open Era in the late '80s and early '90s when she set a slew of records and won 22 Grand Slam singles—more than any other player, male or female. In 1988, she accomplished the "Golden Slam," or calendar-year Grand Slam, by winning all four major titles in the same year.

Graf is one of four tennis players to win the lifetime Golden Slam—all four Grand Slam tournaments plus an Olympic gold medal—after winning the women's singles title at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Graf was the longest-tenured tennis player in history, having been at the top of the rankings for 377 weeks during her career.

She won 107 singles tournaments before calling her quits at 30 in 1999. Her titles included seven at Wimbledon, six at the French Open, five at the US Open, and four at the Australian Open.

3. Tracy Austin: 61 years

American world no.1 female tennis player
Tracy Austin smiles during practice. Photo: Focus on Sport
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: December 12, 1962
  • Nationality: American

During the '70s and '80s, Austin enjoyed a prosperous career culminating in 1980, becoming the world's number-one singles player. Austin was a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, having won the 1979 and 1981 US Opens and the 1980 Wimbledon mixed doubles title.

Tracy Austin had a great career on the tennis court but had to leave early because of injuries. She has been a TV tennis pundit since she retired from professional tennis and began a career in broadcasting.

2. Monica Seles: 50 years

No.1 youngest female tennis player
Academy member Monica Seles poses with a Laureus Award as he arrives at the Laureus World Sports Awards held at the Parc del Forum on May 22, 2006, in Barcelona, ​​Spain. Photo: David Cannon
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: December 2, 1973
  • Nationality: American, Hungarian, Serbian, Serbo-Montenegrin, Yugoslav

During the '80s and '90s, Seles exploded onto the scene and became the undisputed champion of women's tennis. She was just sixteen when she won the French Open in 1990. She won four Australian Opens, three French Opens, and two US Opens for nine Grand Slam singles titles.

Unfortunately, a spectator in Hamburg, Germany, stabbed Seles on the court during a match in 1993, cruelly ending her career. She returned triumphantly after taking time away from tennis to heal in 1995 and hung her tennis spikes in 2008.

1. Martina Hingis: 43 years

No.1 Swiss youngest female no.1 tennis players
Martina Hingis of Switzerland at Wimbledon on June 27th, 1998, in London, England. Photo: Simon Bruty
Source: Getty Images
  • Date of birth: September 30, 1980
  • Nationality: Swiss

Hingis won three Australian Opens, one Wimbledon, and one US Open among her five Grand Slam singles championships. Hingis was a formidable opponent not just in singles but also in doubles and mixed doubles. She held all four Grand Slam women's doubles titles simultaneously 1998, adding to her 13 Grand Slam doubles titles and 7 Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns.

After retiring from professional tennis in 2003 due to chronic ankle ailments, Hingis returned to the sport in 2006. She announced her retirement for the third and last time in 2017.

Who was the youngest female no.1 tennis player?

In the mid-1990s, Hingis made her grand entrance onto the tennis scene. She broke the record for the youngest-ever women's singles world No. 1 in 1997 when she was just sixteen years old.

Final word

These youngest world no. 1 tennis female players inspire countless others to pursue their aspirations with unrelenting perseverance and enthusiasm. The highest honour a tennis player can receive is being named the youngest player ever to hold the No. 1 ranking in her gender.

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Authors
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Kevin Omuya
Kevin Omuya is a Content Writer with 4 years of experience who joined Sports Brief in 2022. In 2019 he held a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Digital Media from KCA University.