Young blades to compete in Milan

In women's tennis, the next generation turned up again at the weekend.

Sloane Stephens, who could barely walk six months ago, won the US Open singles title in straight sets on Saturday.

Early in May she sat on an office chair hitting balls that her coach tossed her.

By May 16, she was strong enough to stand and hit them.

Foot surgery late last year had curtailed her career and she rejoined the tour only in July.

Her comeback has made Lazarus's look lame.

In the top 10 of the women's tour, only Venus Williams, 37, and Svetlana Kuznetsova, 32, are not in their 20s and the oldest twenty-something is Caroline Wozniacki at 27. Stephens is 24.

When Serena Williams returns in January she will defend her Australian Open title against young players who know their time has come.

Stephens, Garbine Muguruza, 23, who won Wimbledon, and Jelena Ostapenko, 20, winner of the French Open, have shown the way for the next generation.

It's not so clear-cut among the men, where the top three in the world are over 30, five of the top 10 are, too, and only Alexander Zverev at 20 brings the average age down to 28.

Yet there is change in the air.

In November the men's tour will put the new breed on show. For the first time the ATP Next Generation tournament will be played with Milan as host city.

It's modelled on the Masters finals and no one older than 21 will be eligible. It sounds fun.

The top seven in the rankings of the Race to Milan will qualify, along with a wildcard. The smart money on the wildcard, unless he makes it to the top seven, is Frances Tiafoe, 19, an American of Sierra Leonean parents. He is the third-highest ranked teenager in the ATP top 100 and gave Roger Federer a five-set battle in the first round of the US Open last month.

The two teenagers ranked ahead of him are Andrey Rublev of Russia, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the US Open, and Denis Shapovalov, an 18-year-old from Canada whose name is such a tongue-twister that an umpire once referred to him as Sharapova.

Shapovalov's breakthrough came in Montreal this year when he beat his idol, Nadal, to reach the semifinals.

He's also beaten Kyle Edmund, Juan Martin del Potro, Adrian Mannarino and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

At the US Open his run was ended by Pablo Carrero Busta, who lost to Kevin Anderson in the semis.

Zverev tops the Next Generation rankings and is unlikely to be dislodged before November.

But, with tournaments to come this month and next, the list could change lower down.

The man with most to prove in Milan is Borna Coric, 20, a Croatian, who is fifth.

As an 18-year-old he beat Andy Murray in Dubai and reached the third round of the French Open on debut. Since then he has disappointed.

He is nicknamed Baby Djokovic, which could be a curse.

"When I play my best, I'm more a Djokovic," he told a reporter.

"When I'm not at my best I'm more like Murray."

As a big talker, he's already a champion.