Coco Gauff, Leylah Fernandez, Carlos Alcaraz

With French Open quarterfinal bids on the line, none of the teenagers flinched.

On Sunday, Coco Gauff, Leylah Fernandez and Carlos Alcaraz each won their matches to get one step closer to their first Grand Slam title.

For Fernandez and Alcaraz, both 19, it’s the first time either has made it this far in Paris. For Gauff, 18, it’s only the second.

The future has very much arrived in tennis — and perhaps nothing illustrates that more than this trio. So, how did they get here? Let’s review.

Coco Gauff

Gauff has been seen as the sport’s next big thing since her star-making turn at Wimbledon in 2019, when she reached the fourth round as a 15-year-old qualifier. Since then, she has won two WTA singles titles (and four in doubles) and had the best major result of her career last year at Roland Garros by reaching the quarterfinals.

Gauff’s doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, said Gauff confessed to having some nerves due to all of the upsets in her side of the wildly unpredictable draw. But Gauff has shown no signs of that. In fact, she has yet to drop a set. Following her 6-4, 6-0 victory over Elise Mertens on Sunday, she said she has never felt more relaxed at a Grand Slam event.

“I really am just enjoying the tournament, enjoying life,” Gauff said about her new attitude. “I’m not thinking about, you know, the end result. I’m just enjoying the match ahead of me and whatever happens, happens — it’s out of my control. I’m going to give it my best either way.”

Of course, it’s easy to enjoy playing tennis when you can hit shots like the one below:

Around the post 👀#RolandGarros | @CocoGauff pic.twitter.com/kx0sR0Dc03

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 29, 2022

If Gauff, who recently graduated from high school, wants to reach the first-ever major semifinal of her career, she’ll have to get past 2017 US Open champion and 2018 French Open finalist Sloane Stephens. The two have known each other since Gauff was in single digits (Stephens, now 29, even attended her 10th…