- Ask Steven
Youth in command Down Under
Who are the youngest winners of the Australian Open? asked Carl Reynolds
The youngest winner of the men's singles at the Australian Open (or Australian Championships as it then was) was Ken Rosewall, who was 18 years two months old when he claimed the title for the first time in 1953.
He also won the men's doubles that year, too - but his partner, Lew Hoad, was exactly three weeks younger, so he became the youngest doubles winner. Remarkably, Rosewall is also the tournament's oldest winner: he was 37 when he won his fourth Australian singles title in 1972.
Four years later, Rosewall was seeded No. 1 at 41, but lost in the semi-final to the surprise eventual winner Mark Edmondson. The youngest winner of the women's singles is Martina Hingis, who was only 16 years and four months old when she won in 1997.
The following year, Hingis won the women's doubles too - with 15-year-old Mirjana Lucic, who became the youngest winner of that event.
