3 youngest men's singles champions at the Australian Open

The Australian Open is a hardcourt tournament which opens the Grand Slam season on the tennis calendar. But that hasn't always been the case.

The last of the four Grand Slam tournaments to open its doors to professionals, the Australian Open was played on grass till 1987 before transitioning to hardcourt in the second year of moving to its present location of Melbourne Park, then called Flinders Park.

You may also like: 10 unique facts about the Australian Open

For a brief period between 1977 and 1985, the Australian Open was actually the last of the four Grand Slam tournaments in a season, hosted a few weeks after the US Open. Owing to another schedule change to encourage more top-ranked players to participate in it, the tournament was moved back to January from the 1987 editions onwards - which meant that there was no Australian Open in the 1986 season.

Novak Djokovic (7) and Roger Federer (6) lead a group of 26 players to have lifted the Australian Open title in the Open Era. On that note, let us have a look at the three youngest players to have triumphed at the tournament since it began allowing professionals to compete in 1969.

#3 Novak Djokovic: 20 years 250 days (2008)

Djokovic lifts his first title at the Australian Open in 2008

Novak Djokovic was making his fourth appearance at the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, following a pair of first-round exits and a fourth-round appearance. Fresh off a maiden Grand Slam final (2007 US Open: lost to Roger Federer), he dethroned two-time defending Federer in the semis to book a title clash with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

It marked the first time since the 2005 Australian Open that Federer or Rafael Nadal did not play the title match at a Major.

In the final featuring two men chasing their maiden Grand Slam, it was Tsonga, appearing in only his 5th Major tournament who made the first breakthrough. Following an early exchange of serves, the Frenchman broke decisively to take the opener 6-4.

You may also like: The last 5 men to lift the Australian Open title

Djokovic pulled back on his unforced errors in the second set and the tactic paid immediate dividends as Tsonga dropped serve at 3-3 en route to parity being restored at a set apiece. Two breaks of the Frenchman's serve in the third helped Djokovic take a crucial two sets to one lead.

But Tsonga was not done yet. The Frenchman dug deep to hold serve at 4-5 and in the next game rued not hitting the ball into the open court on set point. In the ensuing tiebreak, unforced errors continued to haunt Tsonga as Djokovic played the steadier tennis to close out a four-set win and become the 50th different Grand Slam winner in the Open Era.

You may also like: 3 milestones awaiting Djokovic at the 2020 Australian Open.

#2 Stefan Edberg: 19 years 323 days (1985)

Stefan Edberg lifted his first Grand Slam title at the 1985 Australian Open

The only player to win the junior Calendar Grand Slam (1983), Stefan Edberg arrived at the 1985 Australian Open fresh off winning the gold medal at the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles.

In his third appearance at the Australian Open, and 8th overall at a Grand Slam tournament, Edberg beat John Lloyd in straight sets in the quarterfinals. He then recovered from a two sets to one deficit before downing Ivan Lendl 9-7 in the fifth to book a final clash with two-time defending champion and fellow countryman Mats Wilander.

A break apiece in the first two sets meant that Edberg was in cruise control against his more illustrious compatriot. Two breaks followed in the third set as Edberg ended the two-year Australian Open reign of Wilander to bring the last ever Australian Open to be held in December to an end.

In the process, Edberg became only the second teenager in the Open Era to triumph at the Australian Open, as Kooyong Park hosted the last edition of the tournament before it moved to the larger Melbourne Park Arena. A schedule change which brought back the Australian Open to January meant that there was no edition of the tournament in 1986.

#1 Mats Wilander: 19 years 111 days (1983)

Mats Wilander at the 1983 Australian Open

The 1983 edition of the Australian Open saw the arrival of higher-ranked players like Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Mats Wilander and Vitas Gerulaitis.

One of the finest claycourters in the world at that time, second seed Mats Wilander proved his prowess on grass by beating third-seeded American John McEnroe in a four-set semifinal to book a title clash with top-seed Ivan Lendl. That marked the first all-non Australian final at the tournament since 1912.

In a match-up between two men seeking their first major grasscourt title, it was Wilander who was faster off the blocks, producing the steadier baseline tennis - a rarity on that surface in those days. With neither player displaying a propensity to rush the net, baseline exchanges remained aplenty during the match - as was evident in 12 rallies of 20 or more shots, 3 of them reaching the 40 shot mark.

Wilander rode on two breaks of the Lendl serve to take a one set lead and never looked back.

It was Lendl who was on the ascendancy in the second set, securing his first, and what would prove to be the only break of Wilander's serve, to open up a 4-2 lead as he sought a way back into the contest. But the advantage proved short-lived as Wilander won four games on the trot to take a commanding two-set lead.

Wilander broke Lendl for a 2-1 lead in the third, and the single break of serve sufficed as the Swede served out a 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory at the first time of asking. In the process, he became the youngest Australian Open winner in the Open Era.