The 2025 Tennis Season: An Unforgettable Year
The 2025 professional tennis season has come to an end, and what a year it was. From the dominance of stars like Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, and Aryna Sabalenka, to the continued emergence of players like Amanda Anisimova and Ben Shelton, and the return to the top of Naomi Osaka, this season truly had something for everyone. Alcaraz and Sinner practically dominated the ATP circuit, splitting the four Grand Slam titles, but there was much more parity among the female elite of the WTA Tour. Four different players – Madison Keys, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Sabalenka – won the Slams. Throughout the year, both in the ATP and WTA, there were several surprise winners and captivating stories. Everything combined to make a very memorable season. Here’s a look at those who deserve the highest honors.ATP Player of the Year: Carlos Alcaraz
The 2025 ATP season was defined almost exclusively by two men and their rivalry: Alcaraz and Sinner. While these two separated themselves from the rest, with a point difference between No. 2 Sinner and No. 3 Alexander Zverev greater than the one separating Zverev from the world’s number 1,000 player, very little differentiated the two greats from each other. Alcaraz won the French Open and the US Open and finished the year in the number 1 position for the second time in his career, while Sinner was victorious at the Australian Open and Wimbledon and finished the year with the title at the ATP Finals for the second consecutive season.However, Alcaraz was given a slight advantage, who won six other titles this year, including three at Masters-1000 events. Alcaraz, who also leads the head-to-head lifetime record, defeated Sinner in four of their six meetings in 2025.“I don’t know how one could be chosen,” she said.
Chris Evert
“I was going to award the ATP Players of the Year award to Sinner and Alcaraz, but I feel that Sinner [missing a few months due to the suspension] and not finishing as the number 1 of the year tipped the balance towards Alcaraz,” said Shriver.
Pam Shriver
Regardless of whether you believe Alcaraz or Sinner deserve this completely arbitrary distinction, one thing is for sure: they are the best players in the world and should continue their collective brilliance in 2026.
“They have played at an incredibly high level for a prolonged period of time,” said world number 7 Alex de Minaur about Sinner and Alcaraz before their semifinal match against Sinner at the ATP Finals. “We are going to keep improving and waiting for our opportunity. At least I hope they don’t show up every day of the year, right?”
Alex de Minaur
WTA Player of the Year: Aryna Sabalenka
While there was little drama on the ATP side, at least in narrowing it down to two, there were a handful of women who were considered for the title this year. Not only were the majors won by four different players, but Elena Rybakina closed out the year with the title at the WTA Finals, and others won multiple 1000-level tournaments and competed in the Slams. But even so, even with equality at the top of the WTA, one woman was slightly ahead of the rest of the group and was the unanimous choice for this award. Of course, that was world number 1, Sabalenka, who held the top spot throughout the season. She won the US Open, becoming the first woman since Serena Williams over a decade ago to repeat as champion, and also reached the finals of the Australian Open and the French Open and the semi-finals of Wimbledon. Not to mention that she won three other titles in the year, including two at the 1000 level, and played in a total of nine finals. If Sabalenka played in a tournament, she was not only a contender, but a favorite for the title. For all those reasons, “she is the clear player of the year.” And even her opponents praised her this year.“Obviously, she’s number 1 and is totally capable of playing incredible tennis, as she did today,” Anisimova said after the US Open final. “I give her all the credit for that. I admire her enormously; she works hard, and that’s why she’s here.”
Amanda Anisimova
Moment of Revelation (Highly Anticipated): Madison Keys, Australian Open
A prodigious talent who turned professional at 14, for much of her career, it seemed inevitable that Keys would win a Grand Slam title. And she came close. She reached her first Slam semi-final in 2015 and was runner-up at the 2017 US Open. But despite winning nine WTA titles and being a regular in the top 20, she couldn’t win when it mattered most. Until this year, that is. Nearing the age of 30, Keys had a history-making run at the Australian Open, defeating five seeded players, including world number 2 Swiatek in the semi-finals and number 1 Sabalenka in the final. In the end, Keys lifted her first major trophy after an exciting three-set thriller, almost 16 years after turning professional and a decade after reaching her first semi-final.Match of the Year: Alcaraz vs. Sinner, French Open Final
Was this even in doubt? The first major final between the two rising rivals lasted five hours and 29 minutes, making it the longest French Open final in history and the second longest in a Major. It also featured one of the most incredible comebacks of all time.
Sinner, playing alone in his second tournament after serving his three-month suspension, won the marathon first game in 12 minutes, and then largely cruised when he won the first two sets. With Sinner on his way to his fourth Grand Slam title, and the first at Roland Garros, Alcaraz had other ideas. That’s when the magic happened. Raising his level and feeding off the noisy crowd, Alcaraz forced a fourth set and then defended three championship points on his way to a decider. The momentum continued to shift in the final set, with the two exchanging one highlight-worthy point after another, before Alcaraz won in a tiebreak with a final score of 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10-2). It marked Alcaraz’s second consecutive French Open trophy, and his fifth Grand Slam title, but more than that, it cemented the legend of the Big Two and the rivalry that seems to shape the sport for years to come.Most Improbable Victory: Valentin Vacherot, Shanghai
Upon arriving at the Masters 1000 level event, ranked number 204 in the world and as the ninth alternate for the qualifying draw, the 26-year-old, who had only won one match on the ATP Tour in his career, needed a miracle to be able to play in the tournament. But after a series of withdrawals, Vacherot entered the qualifying and needed three sets in both matches there to reach the main draw. Somehow, he found a way, and then did the unthinkable. He beat one seeded player after another, including Alexander Bublik in the second round, Holger Rune in the quarterfinals, and Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. And, as if that weren’t enough, he then faced his cousin Arthur Rinderknech, then ranked number 40 and barely considered a title contender before the tournament began, in the most improbable final. Vacherot finally won the family affair and became the first Monegasque player to win an ATP title, as well as the lowest-ranked Masters champion in history. After the final, the cousins, filled with tears, embraced and shared kind words during an emotional trophy ceremony.After the fairytale victory, which more than doubled his professional earnings, Vacherot climbed in the rankings. Thanks to a run to the quarterfinals at the Paris Masters, Vacherot finishes the season ranked number 31 and as a previously unknown figure turned into a beloved figure in the sport.“There has to be a loser, but I think today there are two winners,” Vacherot said on the court. “A family that won, and I think for the sport of tennis, the story is unreal.”
Valentin Vacherot
Honorable Mention: Victoria Mboko, Canadian Open
Ranked number 85 in the world and receiving a wildcard entry, the 18-year-old Canadian surprised the field by defeating four Grand Slam champions on her way to winning the local 1000-level tournament. She marked her first WTA title, and her ranking rose to number 24. (She finished the season with another title and a new career-high ranking of number 18).Star Performance of the Year: Taylor Townsend, US Open
Townsend has long been known to tennis fans for her talent on the singles and doubles courts, as well as her vivacious personality, but she caught the world’s attention with her incredible play and equally remarkable composure at the US Open. Townsend, who this year reached the number 1 doubles ranking for the first time, had an impressive victory over the 29th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, and a distressed Ostapenko aggressively confronted Townsend after the match, saying that she “had no class, nor education”.
The interaction, and Townsend’s reaction, immediately went viral, turning Townsend’s next match against the number 5 seed, Mirra Andreeva, into a must-see event. Townsend delivered, completely dismantling the teenage prodigy in front of a passionate crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. (Ostapenko later apologized for her words). Townsend then lost in an exciting thriller in the fourth round to two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova, and reached the doubles final with Katerina Siniakova, but solidified her status as a fan favorite. She seems to have been everywhere (from the morning talk show circuit to vacationing with Osaka) since her run in New York.“I am very strong,” Townsend told reporters later. “I am very proud as a Black woman to be here representing myself and representing us and our culture. I make sure to do everything I can to be the best possible representation every time I step on the court and even off it.”
Taylor Townsend
Doubles Teams of the Year: Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash; Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend
Glasspool and Cash, the world’s two highest-ranked doubles players, reached an astonishing 11 finals in 2025. They won seven titles, one of which was at Wimbledon, becoming the first British pair to do so since 1936. Neither of them had ever won a Major before, nor had they even advanced beyond the quarterfinals.Honorable Mention: Christian Harrison and Evan King
At the start of the season, neither Harrison, 31, nor King, 33, had ever won an ATP title, but that changed dramatically during their first year together as a team. This year, they claimed three ATP titles, reached the semi-finals of the French Open, and became the first all-American pair to qualify for the year-end ATP Finals.
Comeback Player of the Year: Belinda Bencic
Perhaps the easiest and most obvious award winner on this list, Bencic returned to competitive tennis in October 2024, just six months after giving birth to her daughter Bella. Bencic, 28, played exclusively ITF and 125-level events for the remainder of the year and then made her official return to the circuit at the beginning of 2025. It didn’t take him long to get back into the routine. Weeks after the season, he reached the fourth round at the Australian Open, and followed it up by securing the title at the 500-level Abu Dhabi Open in February. At the end of the season, he had recorded a semi-final appearance at Wimbledon, for the first time in his career, and had won another title at the Japan Open in October. He started the year ranked number 489 and finished at number 11.
More Improved: Amanda Anisimova
There are years of career, and then there’s what Anisimova did in 2025. A strong candidate for Player of the Year, as well as a moment of revelation and stellar performance, Anisimova was more than up to the high expectations placed on her as a junior. The 24-year-old American, who took an eight-month break from the sport in 2023 for her mental health, won the then-biggest title of her career at the Qatar Open 1000 level in February and entered the top 20 for the first time. But that was just the beginning. Anisimova found her rhythm on grass, reaching the final at the Queen’s Club and then achieving a memorable upset over Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semi-finals and reaching her first major final. She lost, surprisingly, to Swiatek, but got her revenge at the US Open. And in New York, Anisimova reached the final again. While she didn’t win the trophy, her ranking and profile continued to skyrocket. At the end of the year, she had won another 1000-level title at the China Open, qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time (where she reached the semi-finals) and now has a career-high ranking, number 4 in the world. What a year, indeed.Honorable Mention: Learner Tien
It’s difficult to compare it to what Anisimova did, but 19-year-old Tien also had a monumental season. Ranked number 121 in the world, the American overcame qualifying to make his main draw debut at the Australian Open, and what a debut it was. In the second round, Tien defeated former world number 1 and 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, winning the 10-point tiebreak in the fifth set. After defeating Corentin Moutet in the third round, Tien became the youngest male player to advance to the fourth round in Melbourne since Rafael Nadal in 2005.
Tien would go on to defeat Zverev at the 2025 Mexican Open, becoming the youngest American man to win against a top-three player since 2001. Tien finished 2025 with his first ATP title at the Moselle Open and closed the season with a new career-high ranking of number 28.
