Australians will need to get used to seeing it — grand slam tennis without our former world number one, Ash Barty.

As the French Open draws near, it marks the first major tennis tournament without Barty with the 126th staging of Roland-Garros in Paris.

Along with that comes a changing of the guard worldwide as Tennis Australia looks towards the future to try fill the hole left by Barty at the top of the sport.

So who's left to carry the Aussie flag on the grind of the international tour?

As it stands, Australia lacks consistent star power at the top after Barty. Just 23-year-old Alex de Minaur sits inside the top 50, at 21st in ATP rankings, well ahead of the rest of Australia's pack: James Duckworth (70), Nick Kyrgios (76), Jordan Thompson (82), Thanasi Kokkinakis (85) and John Millman (93). After de Minaur, the latter crop are all 26 years and older.

On the women's side of the draw, only Ajla Tomljanovic is among the top 100, at 44th in WTA rankings — just outside of seeding at the French Open.

Just two other Aussie women were guaranteed places on the red soil with Astra Sharma (144) and wildcard Daria Saville, who jumped almost 500 places in an injury-free run from 627 at the start of January, to a current 130.

Australians grateful to have witnessed Barty

Tennis coach Roger Rasheed — who helped the likes of Lleyton Hewitt, Grigor Dimitrov, Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — knows what Australians will miss.

"For us tennis enthusiasts and sporting enthusiasts, it's a little sad that we don't get to see what Ash Barty does on a day-to-day basis in major events," Rasheed said.

"There's a time when you know everyone's different, and you know we're pretty excited that she's got a chance to enjoy her life as a young woman as well in another way."

Rasheed said although Barty won't be touring the tennis circuit, the 'brand' of Ash Barty could be used to continue the legacy for inspiring next generation.

"(Barty is) brilliant role modelling and messaging. You've now got that to run with and be used in a whole lot of different areas.

"It's going to be interesting to see the new breed of athlete that comes out."

'A big blow' for Australian tennis

There's only one Ash Barty. To try and replace the irreplaceable will be a task that takes time, at the very least for Tennis Australia coffers who will lose out over her shock retirement in March. not even two months after breaking a 44-year title drought at the Australian Open.

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Australian coach, commentator, and former player Wally Masur says it's time to look towards the next generation to fill the post vacated by Barty.

"Yeah, it's a big blow for tennis, absolutely," Masur said.

"She was so successful, but what she brought to the sport, you know her style of play was quite unique on the women's tour. It's a really attractive style of play and she's such a gracious champion. It's a big hole… an even bigger hole here in Australia."

Waiting for the next generation to make their mark

While it’s not uncommon for Australian tennis scene to have shining lights, Masur reflected on players like Pat Cash, Lleyton Hewitt, Pat Rafter, Mark Philippoussis, Sam Stosur and Barty as the most successful individuals in recent years, but a focus in the short term will be to look at the next crop of players trying to take the next step by cracking into and consolidating a spot in the top 100.

In men's, there are six Australians in the 100-200 range, while in women's there are six in the same range, and another five in the 200-250 rankings — some way off Barty's ability.

With the Roland-Garros main draw beginning on Sunday, nine Aussie women and three men contested qualifying for a spot in the main draw. However, only world number 161 Jason Kubler made the cut for his first main draw appearance on the clay surface.

"(It's about) getting that next generation to step up and make their mark."

One of those in the next generation is 20-year-old Olivia Gadecki.

After showing promising potential last season, Gadecki was sidelined from an Australian Open wildcard spot this year for refusing vaccination protocols.

The youngster was then knocked out of French Open qualifying this week, but Masur downplayed expectations of her being 'the next big thing', despite going from no ranking to 162 in the past two years.

"Has she got game? Absolutely. She's powerful and strong. Almost like pre-requisite on the women's tour. She's technically sound. She's a great kid who played her heart out in 2021.

"We're a great tennis nation and obviously we'd like to stay there and there's a lot of work to do."

For now at least, the search is on to uncover the next Ash Barty, but when that will be poses more questions for Tennis Australia.