Sky Tennis Australian Open 2014

The last 44 men's singles Grand Slam titles have been shared between just nine players, so which young player could break that sequence?

Roger Federer (16), Rafael Nadal (14), Novak Djokovic (7) and Britain's Andy Murray (2) have shared an incredible 39 crowns between them since the Australian Open in 2004.

Gaston Gaudio (2004 French Open), Marat Safin (2005 Australian Open), Juan Martin del Potro (2009 US Open), Stan Wawrinka (2014 Australian Open) and Marin Cilic (2014 US Open) are the exceptions.

In the women's game, Serena Williams has picked up seven major titles in the past five years while Maria Sharapova has won two Grand Slam titles. Meanwhile, Marion Bartolli (2013 Wimbledon), and Li Na (2014 Australian Open) have decided to hang up their rackets.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, 24, and 25-year-old two-time former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka are attempting to break the mould, but the old guard are still proving immovable.

But all eras must eventually come to an end and a new generation will be waiting to take up the mantle.

Here, we take a look at five young stars ot the game who will be looking to make a major breakthrough at the Australian Open.

The 19-year-old Canberra star announced himself on the world stage when he beat world No 1 Rafael Nadal to make the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last summer. He is regarded as 'the next big thing' in Australia and has the ability to play hard, accurate shots, which is not surprising seeing as he stands at 6ft 4in tall. The teenager was a promising basketball player, but decided to focus on tennis when he was 14. He won his first ITF junior tour title at the age of 15 and by 2013 he had gained the No 1 junior ranking as well as winning the Australian Open boys' junior title.

At this year's first major in Melbourne, the proud Australian of Greek and Malaysian heritage gave us a glimpse of the future of tennis when he fell short in a five-set thriller against Benoit Paire. Krygios' had led by two sets to love before he began cramping and although he showed plenty of exuberance and courage, it was the Frenchman who fought back to progress to the third round. After being cleared of permanent nerve damage in his elbow, his coach at the time Simon Rea said he has no worries about the player's ability to cope with the rigours of the tour.

He took a three-month stint overseas in order to help him fully recover from injury after playing in Memphis – even training with Roger Federer. Kyrgios earned his third title of the year and a Wimbledon wild card after winning the Nottingham Challenge event and then saved an amazing nine match points to get past Richard Gasquet at the All England Club before his famous win against 14-time Grand Slam champion Nadal. "You have to believe that you can win the match from the start and I definitely did, " said Kyrgios, who struck 37 aces and hit 70 winners in his 7-6 (7-5) 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 victory on his Centre Court debut.