With the Australian Open underway, the sporting world has tennis fever once again. The sport has endured a huge rise in popularity in Britain over the last decade or two, mainly thanks to Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu’s triumphant Grand Slam wins.
Murray waved an emotional goodbye to the sport last year and he’s left behind a strong contingent of capable British players to carry the torch, including Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie, Katie Boulter and brother Jamie.
But with those players edging toward the peak of their careers, who are the next generation that will inspire hope for years to come? We’ve taken a look at a few contenders that we think have the potential to secure even more Grand Slam titles in the not too distant future.
Jack Draper
This time last year, Jack Draper wasn’t a tennis player that was necessarily on the radar of casual fans. The 23-year-old failed to reach the third round of both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, while he suffered a first round exit at the French Open.
But in the final Grand Slam of the season, Draper decided to announce himself on the world stage. He stormed to the semi-finals of the US Open without dropping a set and harboured realistic hopes of becoming Britain’s first men’s singles title winner since Murray in 2016.
Sadly, he met his match and lost to eventual champion Jannik Sinner. However, Draper more than proved his worth as he established himself as the future of British tennis. He’ll be hoping to improve on his remarkable US Open run in Melbourne this month after surviving a scare in his first round clash against Mariano Navone, which he eventually won in five sets.
Emma Raducanu
It almost feels strange to describe Raducanu as the ‘next generation’ when she’s already achieved so much. The 22-year-old won her first Grand Slam at the US Open four years ago and she has the potential to win a whole load more.
Raducanu has a huge future ahead – the only question mark is whether she can put her injury worries behind her. Her triumph at Flushing Meadows was achieved without dropping a set and she was the first British woman to win a Grand Slam since Virginia Wade at Wimbledon in 1977.
She was also the first ever qualifier to win a major title in the open era and it was just the second major tournament of her career at the time. Sadly, her fitness issues have so far stopped her from building on that – her best Grand Slam performance since her US Open win was last year’s fourth round exit at Wimbledon.
But she’s got a new fitness team to help and she’s fit enough to take part in the Australian Open. If Raducanu can stay healthy, she has the potential to join Murray as the best British player this century.
Jacob Fearnley
Another potential future star is Jacob Fearnley. Like Draper, he’s aged just 23, and he could be set for a breakthrough season after reaching a career-high rank of 86.
Fearnley only started to come through last year and he won his first ATP Challenger title at the Nottingham Open in only his second appearance in the main draw. He became just the fourth Brit to win the trophy, following in the footsteps of Murray, Evans and Greg Rusedski.
He received a wildcard for Wimbledon last year to make his major tournament singles debut. After winning in the first round, he didn’t quite have enough to beat the formidable Novak Djokovic, although he did manage to take a set off the 24-time Grand Slam winner.
Fearnley is currently in the midst of his maiden Australian Open campaign and it’s started off well for him. He saw off Nick Kyrgios in straight sets in the first round and he’ll fancy his chances of progressing through to the latter stages of the competition.
Sonay Kartal
Just a year older than Raducanu, Sonay Kartal is another bright spark that could put Britain on the map in the women’s game. Her pedigree hasn’t quite reached Raducanu’s levels yet but she’s certainly shown promise.
The 23-year-old reached the third round of Wimbledon last year, where she ultimately lost in straight sets to American superstar Coco Gauff. Kartal also won her maiden ATP tour final in 2024, beating Rebecca Šramková in the Jasmin Open final in Tunisia.
Sadly, her Australian Open journey has already come to an end. She lost her opening game to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in straight sets, although she showed good character to hold her own and force a tie break after being blown away in the first set.
Future wheelchair tennis stars
There are also a host of wheelchair tennis stars with a bright future, including 18-year-old Ben Bartram. He won the junior US Open singles title in 2022 and took part in his first Wimbledon last year.
Bartram came up against British icon and his tennis idol Alfie Hewett in the first round, where he was ultimately beaten. Alongside Dahnon Ward, he was also part of the first all-British boys’ doubles title partnership that triumphed at the Junior Masters in Tarbes.
The two also met in the singles final of the same competition, with Bartram coming out on top. Ward is another big hope for the future, as is Andrew Panney – the pair joined forces to win their first doubles title together at the Austrian Open. Meanwhile on the women’s side, Abbie Breakwell and Ruby Bishop have also been tipped to have bright futures in the sport.