Five young stars at the Australian Open

The last 44 men's singles Grand Slam titles have been shared between just nine players, so which young player could break that sequence?

Roger Federer (16), Rafael Nadal (14), Novak Djokovic (7) and Britain's Andy Murray (2) have shared an incredible 39 crowns between them since the Australian Open in 2004.

Gaston Gaudio (2004 French Open), Marat Safin (2005 Australian Open), Juan Martin del Potro (2009 US Open), Stan Wawrinka (2014 Australian Open) and Marin Cilic (2014 US Open) are the exceptions.

In the women's game, Serena Williams has picked up seven major titles in the past five years while Maria Sharapova has won two Grand Slam titles. Meanwhile, Marion Bartolli (2013 Wimbledon), and Li Na (2014 Australian Open) have decided to hang up their rackets.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 24, and 25-year-old two-time former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka are attempting to break the mould, but the old guard are still proving immovable.

But all eras must eventually come to an end and a new generation will be waiting to take up the mantle.

Here, we take a look at five young stars ot the game who will be looking to make a major breakthrough at the Australian Open.

Nick Kyrgios (Sky Bet odds: 100/1)

The 19-year-old Canberra star announced himself on the world stage when he beat world No 1 Rafael Nadal to make the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last summer. He is regarded as 'the next big thing' in Australia and has the ability to play hard, accurate shots, which is not surprising seeing as he stands at 6ft 4in tall. The teenager was a promising basketball player, but decided to focus on tennis when he was 14. He won his first ITF junior tour title at the age of 15 and by 2013 he had gained the No 1 junior ranking as well as winning the Australian Open boys' junior title.

At this year's first major in Melbourne, the proud Australian of Greek and Malaysian heritage gave us a glimpse of the future of tennis when he fell short in a five-set thriller against Benoit Paire. Krygios' had led by two sets to love before he began cramping and although he showed plenty of exuberance and courage, it was the Frenchman who fought back to progress to the third round. After being cleared of permanent nerve damage in his elbow, his coach at the time Simon Rea said he has no worries about the player's ability to cope with the rigours of the tour.

He took a three-month stint overseas in order to help him fully recover from injury after playing in Memphis – even training with Roger Federer. Kyrgios earned his third title of the year and a Wimbledon wild card after winning the Nottingham Challenge event and then saved an amazing nine match points to get past Richard Gasquet at the All England Club before his famous win against 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal. "You have to believe that you can win the match from the start and I definitely did," said Kyrgios, who struck 37 aces and hit 70 winners in his 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory on his Centre Court debut.

He eventually suffered a four-set defeat to Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic in the quarter-finals. Kyrgios then split from Rea less than a fortnight after making his big breakthrough before teaming up with his old friend Todd Larkham ahead of the US Open. Experience trumped youth at Flushing Meadows when he went down to Tommy Robredo in four sets. He then spent the remainder of the year recovering from injury and fatigue. Now ranked 50th in the world, the Aussie is desperately hoping to he fully fit and mount a challenge on home turf.

Belinda Bencic (Sky Bet odds: 150/1)

Bencic could well be the next 'Swiss Miss' having already improved 180 places since year-end 2013 to current world No 32. She has clearly been blossoming under the guidance of Melanie Molitor, Martina Hingis' mother. "Belinda is the best junior player in the world and I think that shows that she has a great potential," said Molitor. "The No 1 junior player usually develops into a good senior player as well.

"As for Belinda it's all up to her and what she makes of it. She certainly has good basics, she's very versatile and therefore I think she has good chances." The teenager made her WTA debut aged 15 and has gone on to win the French Open and Wimbledon junior titles before rising to become world junior No 1. She put on a gritty display against eventual champion Li Na at last year's Australian Open, but fell in straight sets, and then made her main draw debut at Roland Garros, losing out to her more experienced opponent, Venus Williams.

Hingis believes the youngster shows fearlessness in her game and could go very far. "Belinda’s got a very bright future. You're not really nervous when you're 17. You don't feel any pressure. You're just excited to go out there and play and you don't think too much about it. You're not doubting yourself or worrying about anything that's gone on in the past," Hingis said. The 17-year-old lost to Simona Halep at Wimbledon but then became the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since her compatriot Martina Hingis in 1997. Bencic upset world No 7 Angelique Kerber and former world No 1 and ninth seed Jelena Jankovic before losing to Peng Shuai of China.

She relies on her court craft, but also has the power to let rip from the baseline. She is also an adept counter-puncher, but can be prone to bouts of petulance. "My goal is to improve every day, to get as far as I can, be the best that I can, and just to look step-by-step. I don't want to set any goals - it's extra pressure - and I will just play," she said.

Borna Coric (Sky Bet odds: 500/1)

The 17-year-old Croat is one of the ATP World Tour's rising stars. After claiming the US Open junior title in 2013 he picked up his first Tour win on home soil in Umag in July and then the teenager achieved the biggest win of his career, beating Rafael Nadal in the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-final in October.

He backed up hugely-impressive wins over Ernests Gulbis and Andrey Golubev in the previous rounds with a 6-2 7-6 (7-4) victory against his boyhood hero. "It's unbelievable for me," said the world No 124 after the win. "I just want to enjoy the moment. I'm just so surprised and it's an unbelievable feeling."

That run offered emphatic proof of his potential, depsite his loss to in-form Belgian David Goffin in the last four. At 6ft 1in tall and 174 lbs (12st 5lbs) Coric has all the physical attributes to become a boxer, but after climbing an impressive 276 places to world No 90 during 2014 he will be glad to have chosen tennis as he preferred sport. The ATP Star of Tomorrow also won his first Challenger event in Izmir as well as making the semi-final in Tashkent

He qualified for first Grand Slam tournament at the US Open where, after defeating 29th-seeded Czech Lukas Rosol, he lost out to 34-year-old Estrella Burgos from the the Dominican Republic in round two. The future is bright for the highly-rated teen sensation with former Croatian stars Goran Ivanisevic and Ivan Ljubicic as well as current ATP player Marin Cilic all happy to offer their help and advice.

Dominic Thiem (Sky Bet odds: 400/1)

Thiem is one of the fastest rising stars of the game. The talented Austrian started playing the game at the age of six and was one of a select few who graduated from the ATP University in Miami. His game was harnessed by Boris Becker's first coach, Gunter Bresnik, and he won his last three tournaments as a junior, where he reached a career-high ranking of No 2. He secured the prestigious Orange Bowl before moving onto Challenger and Futures events, where he won four titles.

With his ranking outside the Top 300 at the start of 2013, he is now in the ATP World Tour's top 50 – currently 37 – and is climbing at a speed of knots. At a rangy 6ft 1in and almost 13 stone, Thiem is a real athlete with a powerful forehand, a strong serve and nifty hands, although he admits needing to work more on his movement around the court.

Nicknamed 'Dominator', he demonstrated his versatility by beating former top-tenner Jurgen Melzer and then pushing Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on indoor hard. He gave Andy Murray a scare by taking him to three sets in the Rotterdam second round and he defeated both Rhyne Williams and Peter Polansky to reach the main draw of the Miami Masters in March. He recorded the biggest win of his fledgling career at the Madrid Open when he knocked out Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka 1-6 6-2 6-4 in the second round. "I cannot really believe it," Thiem said after his shock win. "Of course I was a little bit nervous, but it wasn't the reason for the first set, his pace was just too high for me."

At the French Open, Thiem was handed a clay-court lesson by the master Rafael Nadal, but still managed to take more games off the 'King of Clay' in their second round clash (seven) than Andy Murray did in the semi-finals (six). Thiem was defeated by Leonardo Mayer in the third round at Wimbledon before reaching his first ATP World Tour final in his home tournament in Kitzbuhel. David Goffin put a dampener of proceedings with victory but the run gave Thiem confidence heading to New York. Competing in his first ever US Open, Thiem beat his training partner Ernests Gulbis and Feliciano Lopez, before losing to experienced Czech Tomas Berdych in the fourth round. The young Austrian will aim to make further progress in Australia.

Taylor Townsend (Sky Bet odds: 1000/1)

The southpaw is a free spirit in a world of hyper-drilled young players. She possesses timing to die for and spends her time training with 250lb American football players. The former junior No 1 and Australian Open junior champion pounded an impressive 43 winners past Alize Cornet in a brilliant victory to reach the third round at Roland Garros last year which caught the eye of many observers and high-profile players.

She also loves to attack the net, even using a serve and volley technique on occasions, while her touch is a throwback to the days before power became tennis' signature weapon. Townsend already has lots of fans, one of them is Andy Murray, who praised her game on Twitter after her win over Cornet.

The two-time Grand Slam champion said: "I love the way she played tennis, basically. She's just a really nice player to watch. She hits the ball great. She's very talented. She volleys. You don't see that much now on the men or the women's tour. She had drop shots, she had angles, good attitude. She was just very fun to watch. She's going to be a very good player."

Townsend reads the game well and stamina does not seem to be an issue, but she has not played nearly as many senior events as her contemporaries like Donna Vekic or Belinda Bencic, whom she was runner-up to in the Wimbledon junior tournament in 2013. She went down to Klara Koukalova in the first round at the All England Club, although her form picked up after reaching the last-16 in Washington and the round of 32 in Cincinnati.

The 18-year-old failed to make an impression at the US Open, but is atill set to climb into the top 100. Townsend, who is coached by former Wimbledon finalist Zina Garrison, has a winning mix of natural charm and confidence and she knows she possesses something special. "I have a lot of weapons, and I have a lot of gifts and talents that not many people have that I have to believe in," said Townsend.