We thought the next gen had arrived in Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz but the kids are coming with Joao Fonseca, Arthur Fils, Jakub Mensik, Learner Tien and Mirra Andreeva taking over tennis.
World No 1 Sinner is "in a different universe" according to his vanquished Australian Open final opponent Alexander Zverev.
The Italian has won his first three Grand Slam finals and is now only one behind Alcaraz, and although the pair will almost certainly rack up plenty more major titles, the youngsters coming through are likely to have a big say in tennis over the next few years.
You can watch their progress on the ATP and WTA Tours thanks to our dedicated channel, Sky Sports Tennis.
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Joao Fonseca
Brazil's Fonseca - only 18 but with a huge game - is the most talked-about talent and he delivered one of the upsets of the Australian Open against ninth seed Andrey Rublev.
The Next Gen ATP Finals champion has already cracked the top 100. In the past 12 months, the Brazilian has risen 552 places from No 651 to a career-high world No 99.
The teen is the youngest top-100 player since Carlos Alcaraz in October 2021 and the youngest Brazilian to break into the top 100 in rankings history.
"From Brazil, the repercussions are just big. People are getting to know a little bit more of me. That's super nice. The Brazilian people like to cheer a lot for this [promising] kid," Fonseca said. "But at the same time, you need to be focused.
"People are going to say a lot, have more expectations. You need to stay focused on your routine, to work more and more."
Learner Tien
The 19-year-old American has broken into the top 100 for the first time after a remarkable run from qualifying to the fourth round in Melbourne.
The left-hander sealed a memorable five-set win against Daniil Medvedev, outlasting the former US Open champion in the second round.
He backed that up by defeating Frenchman Corentin Moutet before experienced Italian Lorenzo Sonego stopped his progress in the fourth round.
Tien has jumped 41 spots in the rankings to a new career-high of 80th and he'll aim to back up his Australian Open exploits on the ATP Tour.
Alex Michelsen
Fast-rising American Michelsen upset 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round and 19th seed Karen Khachanov in round three en route to a fine run to the fourth round, where he struggled against Alex de Minaur.
Michelsen became the youngest American man ranked in the top 50 since Sam Querrey in 2007.
The 20-year-old Californian, coached by former American tennis star Robby Ginepri, has climbed to a career-high No 36 in the rankings.
Jakub Mensik
The talented 19-year-old, nicknamed 'Menimal' loves spare ribs and towers above his opponents at 6ft 4in. He is fast following in the footsteps of legendary Czechs Petra Kvitova and Tomas Berdych.
At 17, he became the youngest man since Borna Coric in 2014 to win a main-draw match at the US Open and made it through to the third round in 2023, where Taylor Fritz ended his breakthrough tournament.
Mensik even received an unexpected invite to practice with Novak Djokovic after his breakthrough.
"I mean, playing with Novak or being part of his preparation, it was very important for me," he reflected. "Such a good experience because it pushed me a lot. When you can spend some time with the best player in the world, maybe in history, I don't even know what to say... I learned a lot of things."
Arthur Fils
The next tennis poster boy from France won two ATP titles in 2024, with his maiden triumph coming on home soil at the Lyon Open in 2023.
His biggest win came against Alexander Zverev in the Hamburg Open final where he upset the home star and defending champion for his first ATP 500 title and he followed it up with more success at the Japan Open as he upset fellow Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
Fils, at 20, is already ranked world No 19. He says his dream is to win a Grand Slam and reach world No 1. "It's always been in my head since I was five years old," he said.
Mirra Andreeva
At 17, Andreeva is the only teenager inside the WTA top 100 having made her Grand Slam debut at the French Open in 2023, reaching the third round, while she made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon.
She followed it up with a superb run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros and went on to capture her maiden WTA Tour title in July at the Iași Open in Romania.
Andreeva, who will turn 18 in April, is sitting at a career-high No 15.
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