Coco, Leylah, Carlos: The teens continue to electrify the 2022 French Open

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4:45 PM ET

  • D’Arcy MaineESPN.com

With French Open quarterfinal bids on the line, none of the teenagers flinched.

On Sunday, Coco Gauff, Leylah Fernandez and Carlos Alcaraz each won their matches to get one step closer to their first Grand Slam title.

For Fernandez and Alcaraz, both 19, it’s the first time either has made it this far in Paris. For Gauff, 18, it’s only the second.

The future has very much arrived in tennis — and perhaps nothing illustrates that more than this trio. So, how did they get here? Let’s review.

Coco Gauff

Gauff has been seen as the sport’s next big thing since her star-making turn at Wimbledon in 2019, when she reached the fourth round as a 15-year-old qualifier. Since then, she has won two WTA singles titles (and four in doubles) and had the best major result of her career last year at Roland Garros by reaching the quarterfinals.

Gauff’s doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, said Gauff confessed to having some nerves due to all of the upsets in her side of the wildly unpredictable draw. But Gauff has shown no signs of that. In fact, she has yet to drop a set. Following her 6-4, 6-0 victory over Elise Mertens on Sunday, she said she has never felt more relaxed at a Grand Slam event.

“I really am just enjoying the tournament, enjoying life,” Gauff said about her new attitude. “I’m not thinking about, you know, the end result. I’m just enjoying the match ahead of me and whatever happens, happens — it’s out of my control. I’m going to give it my best either way.”

Of course, it’s easy to enjoy playing tennis when you can hit shots like the one below:

If Gauff, who recently graduated from high school, wants to reach the first-ever major semifinal of her career, she’ll have to get past 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open finalist Sloane Stephens. The two have known each other since Gauff was in single digits (Stephens, now 29, even attended her 10th birthday party) and played against one another for the first time on tour at the US Open in September. Stephens convincingly won that second-round clash 6-4, 6-2, but Gauff admitted on Sunday she had been “super nervous” ahead of that match.

“I think a lot of people expected a lot from me in that match. Going in, if I do play [Stephens], just going to approach it like any other match. Obviously, I have to go back and watch that match and see what I can learn from it.”

If Gauff were to win, she could potentially face Fernandez in the semifinals.

Leylah Fernandez

Fernandez stunned the world with what seemed to be a come-from-nowhere run at the US Open in 2021. She improbably knocked off three top-five players, including defending champion Naomi Osaka, en route to the final. Fernandez ultimately fell to fellow teenager Emma Raducanu, but she made it clear that she was a player to watch for the indefinite future.

And Fernandez seems to have rediscovered her US Open mode in Paris, with impressive three-set victories over reigning Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the third round and former French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova on Sunday. Fernandez won five of the last six games in the victory over Anisimova — and couldn’t hide her emotions when it was over:

“Every time I step out on the court, I still have something to prove,” Fernandez said after the match. “I still have that mindset I’m the underdog. I’m still young, I still have a lot to show to the people, to the public, so that they can just enjoy the tennis match.”

Fernandez will next face the surging Martina Trevisan in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Trevisan, 28, made a surprise run to the French Open quarters in 2020 and is fresh off of a title at last week’s Morocco Open. The two have never played before, but Fernandez said she was looking forward to facing another left-handed player and wasn’t thinking beyond the match.

“I think winning the French Open is a long way from here, and I just want to enjoy today’s win and get ready for my next match,” she said.

And no matter what happens for Fernandez this week, she will improve to a career-high ranking. She is expected to rise to No. 14, and a win over Trevisan would put her just outside of the top 10.

Carlos Alcaraz

Alcaraz also made a name for himself at the 2021 US Open, thanks to an astounding five-set victory over No. 3 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round, which helped him notch the first major quarterfinal appearance of his career.

Since then, Alcaraz has been on fire with four titles this season, including two at the Masters 1000 level. He is riding a 14-match win streak and hasn’t lost since mid-April. He is now ranked a career-high No. 6 — and possibly playing even better than that number suggests.

In Paris, he faced a challenge in an unexpected five-set clash with fellow Spanish player Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the second round, but he found a way to win — and has since then been nothing short of dominant. He beat Sebastian Korda, the last man to have beaten him this season, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the third round and had little trouble with No. 21 seed Karen Khachanov on Sunday:

While all eyes are on whom Alcaraz could potentially meet in the semifinals — Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic, heard of them? — he must first get past No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev. They have played against each other three times: Zverev won twice, but Alcaraz dispatched a 6-3, 6-1 rout in their most recent meeting in the Madrid final. Later, Zverev called him “the best in the world right now.”

Alcaraz seems to be very much aware of the expectations and the hopes for a showdown with Nadal or Djokovic (he beat both of them in Madrid), but he has downplayed all of that so far.

“Well, if I am winning, I just play against one of them,” Alcaraz said this week. “I think I’m ready. It’s different to play against them [here], [because] in the Masters 1000 or another tournament, it’s best of three, [and a best of five] in [a] Grand Slam, but I would say I’m ready.”

If that’s not enough Gen Z energy for you, there’s a chance there will be five teenagers in the quarterfinals in Paris, as Qinwen Zheng and Holger Rune, both 19, will be in action on Monday and looking to punch their tickets as well.

It’s been a career-best major for both young players. Playing in just her second Grand Slam, Zheng knocked off former champion Simona Halep in the second round and hadn’t lost a game against Alize Cornet, a home favorite, before Cornet retired with injury in the second set of their third-round match.

Rune earned the first major victory of his career against No. 14 seed Denis Shapovalov in his opening-round match — and has yet to look back. He hasn’t lost a set at Roland Garros.

But getting to the quarters won’t exactly be easy for either of them. Zheng has the monumental challenge against world No. 1 and indisputable tournament favorite Iga Swiatek, and Rune will have to escape 2021 French Open finalist Tsitsipas.

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