WTA teen brigade sweeping the 2013 French Open

It was the match on Wednesday evening which finished in near darkness that caught the attention of many tennis aficionados around the world. It had ripping winners, superb defensive skills and a bit of drama – everything to illuminate Court 7 and keep fans engaged.

What stood out was the fact that this was an 18-year-old fighting against a 19-year-old portending what was to come in future WTA battles. 19-year-old Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, who counts eminent singer Ricky Martin amongst her fans, was showing her indomitable spirit against one of the fastest-rising and most talked about teens, American Madison Keys, who wouldn’t let go of it that easily.

In the end, the 86th ranked Monica Puig, who had upset Nadia Petrova, pulled out the grinding win over the 58th ranked teen in straight sets. But the display was amazing, even though raw and unsteady at times. Mixing up lobs when required, slicing at will and venturing near the net, Puig came back from breaks down in the second set to sail into the third round.

Puig and Keys are a part of a vivacious teen brigade in WTA that swept the main draw of the French Open. As many as 15 teenaged girls entered the main draw of the second Slam of the year. They are hungry, full of zeal and ready to test themselves against the world’s best. Many of them have had prolific records at junior Grand Slams and are trying to translate that success on the senior circuit.

Monica Puig herself had been a runner-up twice – at the junior 2011 Australian Open and the junior 2011 French Open. She had caught fire right before making her Grand Slam debut at the French Open by reaching the Oeiras quarter-finals. Madison Keys, who plays an explosive game, has been handpicked as one of America’s next best hopes. She validated the expert views by reaching two quarter-finals this year – Sydney and Charleston.

Amongst the others, World no. 69 Jana Cepelova is one Slovak player to watch out for. She turned 20 on Wednesday and was one of those 11 teens sitting pretty in the second round before she bowed out to Angelique Kerber. She had captured the 2010 Australian Open girls doubles title with Chantal Škamlová and had been slowly proving her worth when she entered the Wimbledon third round last year.

Girls like Annika Beck and Eugenie Bouchard have been taking the big leap from last year’s junior glory to this year’s senior success. Bouchard delighted her nation with Canada’s first ever major title of any kind when she captured the junior Wimbledon crown last year. Quickly rising to become the Canadian No. 1, the 19-year-old currently holds the 77th position in the rankings.

British No. 1 Laura Robson’s best friend, Bouchard, lovingly called Genie, is an effervescent girl who swooned the world with her moves in a Gangnam style video with her pal. She enjoyed a recent surge of form by fighting into the Strasbourg semi-finals and in her Roland Garros second round, will be facing the superstar who designed her Nike attire – Maria Sharapova.

Adding to the bevy of rising stars from Germany, 19-year-old Annika Beck showed her mastery over red clay last year by becoming the queen of Roland Garros in the junior section. This year, the World No. 62 reached the French Open second round, where she had a tough hurdle in Victoria Azarenka. She had been in the Katowice semi-finals this season and brought all that confidence against the Belarusian. She lost in straight sets, but not before showing Azarenka a glimpse of the future star she can be.

The girl Beck beat in her junior French Open final last year, No. 150 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, herself exhibited maturity to show Belgian Yanina Wickmayer the door. This was a Grand Slam main draw debut for the 18-year-old Slovak and her campaign was ended by the talented American Jamie Hampton, but this will surely give her loads of confidence.