The Top 5: Teenage Dreams at the WTA Finals

WATCH: In Guadalajara, Coco Gauff reacts to qualifying for the WTA Finals for the first time.

The field is set for this year’s edition of the WTA Finals is set, and among the players that managed to secure a spot is Coco Gauff, one of the sport’s brightest stars.

Gauff, a French Open finalist this year, is the youngest player to reach the tournament since 2005. The 18-year-old is the latest in a long line of teenagers to qualify, with some of those predecessors going on to have a dream tournament. Here’s a look at several teenagers who’ve starred at the elite event.

Chris Evert

One of the sport’s greatest teen prodigies, Chris Evert made a seamless transition from competing against junior players to taking on adults on the Virginia Slims Tour. Seeded fourth at the inaugural edition of the year-end championships, the 17-year-old dominated from start to finish, beating No. 1 Billie Jean King in the semifinals, then Kerry Melville in the last match. The victory was the 11th of Evert’s already-burgeoning career.

Tracy Austin

When Tracy Austin made her debut in 1979 at the tournament reserved for the best in the game, she would go on to reach the finals, where she lost to Martina Navratilova. When she returned to the championships, the second seed and reigning US Open champion was pushed to the brink in her opening round-robin match, but settled in from there to advance to the final. This time, the 17-year-old would turn the tables on Navratilova, beating her in three sets to claim her 14th singles title.

Monica Seles

There have been dominant streaks throughout the history of the game, and the run by Monica Seles could definitely be counted among them. After making her debut at the year-end event in 1989, where she reached the quarterfinals, the teenager would go on to firmly establish herself as the best of the best over the next three years. In 1990, she gutted out the first women’s five-set match in decades in the final against Gabriela Sabatini, then topped all-time great Martina Navratilova in ’91 and ’92, giving her three titles at the tournament by the time she was 19.

Martina Hingis

In 1997, Martina Hingis was seemingly invincible over the course of the regular season, winning three of the four Grand Slams and reaching the final of the other. Her run of success at the tour’s biggest events, however, came to a halt at the year-end championships with a quarterfinal loss to Mary Pierce. Returning to the finals in 1998 and no longer the world No. 1, the 18-year-old Hingis was on a mission from start to finish, gaining revenge in the quarters against Pierce and defeating top-ranked Lindsay Davenport in a four-set final in the last best-of-five championship match.

Maria Sharapova

With her win at Wimbledon in 2004—defeating Serena Williams, no less—17-year-old Maria Sharapova of Russia firmly established herself as a player to beat. Booking her place in the WTA Tour Championships field with four titles on the year, the sixth seed took out three of her countrywomen to reach the final, where she’d face Williams in a major match for the second time. Once again, it was Sharapova who emerged victorious, as she rallied to defeat the American in three sets.