The older folks at the Australian Open are also doing quite well, thanks

Youth have been gobbling up headlines at this Australian Open as if they were slices of the celebratory pepperoni pizza—with extra cheese—that 19-year Learner Tien wolfed down after his sensational upset of No. 5 seed Daniil Medvedev.

You probably already know the names that have blazed across the Internet and flat screens: Tien, Joao Fonseca, Mirra Andreeva, Jakob Mensik, Nishesh Basavareddy, Alex Michelsen. The hunt for the Next Big Thing is on like the New Year.

Yet weekend after next, when the singles champions hoist their trophies, neither champ is likely to be a teenager.

The kids are alright, but the adults—we’ll call them the 25-and-overs—are better.

So far Down Under, some of those older players have been on fire, starting with the most respected war horse in the draw, 10-time singles champion and 37-year old Novak Djokovic. Then there’s 38-year old Gael Monfils, and a formidable trio of 27-year olds: No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev and American stalwarts Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. The obligatory outlier is 25-year-old Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Those veterans have shined through the first three rounds of play.

In the women’s draw, the WTA has completely flipped the script it has followed for a long time. Andreeva, already in the fourth round, is currently the only teenager in the Top 100. This the tour that gave us Jennifer Capriati, the Williams sisters, Monica Seles and, more recently, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff?

Aryna Sablaenka, 26, has become a dominant force, and there’s a new level of consistency among the elites. True, Swiatek (23) and Gauff (20) can hardly be called old, but the “No Trespassing” sign is aimed at the teenagers who once flocked to the majors.

Some of Djokovic’s faint-hearted fans must have winced when they saw him paired in the first round with Basavareddy, a 19-year-old wild card with a dangerously smooth game. After all, Djokovic hasn’t won a regular ATP tournament in over a year. He was 2-1 in 2025 before the first major, while Basavareddy was 7-2.

But Djokovic used his first match as a springboard, not a plank. Most recently, he dismantled No. 26 seed Tomas Machac in the third round, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. Can you feel the storm clouds gathering?

If Djokovic is hearing footsteps as he makes inroads in his quest for Grand Slam No. 25, you’d never know it. He’s been complimentary of the young stars bursting out. After one of his matches, he said of the Brazilian prodigy Fonseca:

“I’ve been a fan of his game. I’ve been watching him also last year. I think in one of my interviews for ATP I was saying I see some of my game there in his game, particularly when I was his age when you’re kind of carelessly going for the shots, just showing what you're capable of. I mean, he's got the goods, definitely.”

Taylor Fritz has also been charitable toward the youngsters. When reporters asked him about Fonseca and Jakub Mensik, he said:

“The upsets (they created) weren’t too surprising to me. . . but still, I was really impressed. The kid’s (Fonseca’s) game is pretty complete. I played (Mensik) at the Open in ‘23. I literally think I played him on his 18th birthday. He's improved a lot since then. Yeah, I mean, it’s going to be interesting to see how they develop.”

When Fritz wasn’t handicapping and praising the young upstarts, he was beating up on rivals across the age spectrum, starting with a 24-year-old who generated headlines of his own as a teenager, Jenson Brooksby. Fritz lost just eight total games in his first two rounds. More and more it seems that Fritz will not be deterred by anything on his mission to win a Grand Slam event—an ambition that seems to have nearly existential proportions for him.

With the field shrinking, some of these veterans will fall to friendly fire or higher-ranked foes. Fritz is playing Monfils, and—barring a colossal upset—Djokovic is one win away from Alcaraz. Tommy Paul, who survived some first-round yips and seems to have found his game, will meet Davidovich Fokina. Alexander Zverev has been crushing anything in his way without losing a set; he next faces Ugo Humbert.

In evaluating the teenagers, Taylor Fritz said:

When you’re that age playing these big events, there’s no expectations, there’s no pressure. You know you have all the time in the world to improve.

“It’s really easy to go out and just play like these, I don't know, loose matches where you're just firing off the ball and crushing it and playing great.”

Fritz knows whereof he speaks: in 2016, at age 18, he became the youngest American to reach an ATP final since Michael Chang in 1988.

But if his analysis gives youngsters a significant psychological advantage, age can offer a leg up as well. After his second-round win over Daniel Altmaier, Monfils was asked what unfinished business he had in tennis. He replied:

“No, I can finish now. I think I have done what I want in a way. If I do more, it’s bonus. I’m happy.

“As I always say from day one, for me the most important thing is the health. It’s just a part of my life. It’s very nice, beautiful. Tennis give me everything, you know, I can even imagine, so I am already blessed. The rest is bonus.”

That pepperoni pizza tastes good at any age.