In two weeks, the world’s best tennis players will travel to Melbourne for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the season and tennis’ first stop for 2025.
The WTA circuit is surprisingly well placed, as World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and world number 2 Iga Swiatek prepare to resume their duel for supremacy with a resurgent Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina ready to do a duet and a quartet. Zheng Qinwen, Olympic gold medalistdouble Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini and US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro are looking to build on exceptional seasons as Ons Jabeur makes his return. And, after his first Saudi Arabia Tour Finalsthe WTA and other leading figures will once again take into account how inequality affects women in tennis and what they can do better.
Tennis writers Matthew Futterman and Charlie Eccleshare break down women’s tennis’ biggest storylines for the 2025 season.
And now for the Swiatek vs. Sabalenka rivalry?
In terms of quality, there was no better WTA match than Iga Swiatek’s 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7) victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid Open final in May. Their duel at the top of the rankings has been an interesting subplot throughout 2024, which ultimately led to Sabalenka takes first place ahead of Swiatek in October.
Where does the rivalry go next? A Grand Slam meeting between the two would be nice, who have only met once before, with Swiatek beating Sabalenka in the US Open semi-finals two years ago. The ultimate test of a Grand Slam final would be electric; it would also introduce their rivalry to a much wider tennis audience.
For now, it looks like Sabalenka is more likely to keep his end of the bargain. His recent consistency at Grand Slam tournaments has been astounding, reaching at least the semi-finals in nine of his last 12 majors. While Swiatek – outside of the French Open – has been much less reliable at the majors despite beating Sabalenka in terms of titles and overall winning percentage in 2024.
Working with new coach Wim Fissette, Swiatek hopes to return to his best form and reignite a rivalry that has slowly ignited since that unforgettable Madrid encounter seven months ago. Sabalenka has added finesse and skill to her brutal power in recent months, and Swiatek has started to do the same under Fissette’s guidance. The difference is that Sabalenka is introducing it for the first time in her singles, where Swiatek used spin, volleys and drop shots with regularity during her resounding victory at Roland Garros 2020. If they both continue to evolve – and Swiatek mentally puts her one-month doping ban behind her after positive trimetazidine test – 2025 will be a dynamite year for the top two players undisputed players on the circuit at the moment.
Can Zheng take the next step?
Zheng Qinwen has been one of the stars of tennis in 2024, reaching the final of the Australian Open earlier this year and then winning the Olympic gold medal in August. She finished the season ranked fifth, introducing herself to the world after gradually rising through the ranks over the past two years. She is now a huge star in China.
Zheng is also a bit of a troublemaker, someone who has ruffled a few feathers on the WTA Tour. Her cold handshakes at the end of matches have become notorious and she admits she is happy to operate as a lone wolf. “I always prefer to keep distance from the players,” she said during a press conference at the WTA Finals in Riyadh last month. Becoming friends with her rivals could mean blunting her competitive instincts on the field, and she doesn’t want to take that risk.
Whether or not Zheng can build on last year will be an intriguing WTA subplot. Ditto Jasmine Paolini, who continues to defy expectations. Zheng seems better placed thanks to the upward curve of his progress, all built around his formidable serve and one of the heaviest forehands in the game; Paolini is expected to remain in the top 10, but it would be a remarkable feat to match his two 2024 Grand Slam finals.
Other players looking to take another step up the rankings include Diana Shnaider, the Russian talent on the cusp of the top 10; Donna Vekic, who almost supplanted Paolini to reach the Wimbledon final; Amanda Anisimova for her first full season back and Naomi Osaka and Emma Raducanu, two former Grand Slam champions who have made no secret of their ambitions to once again reach the highest echelons of sport.
Will Gauff and Rybakina challenge the first two?
There was a period from late summer 2023 until early spring 2024 when women’s tennis appeared to be heading towards something resembling a “Big Four”: Sabalenka, Swiatek, Rybakina and Gauff.
But Rybakina then encountered a series of ongoing health problems and Gauff had her own service and forehand problems. Zheng, Navarro, Paolini and Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova also had something to say about this narrative in 2024.
But now Rybakina and Gauff have started doing what they can to get back to the elite level. Rybakina hired Goran Ivanisevic to coach her for the 2025 season. Gauff made a less impactful move, hiring a largely unknown coach named Matt Daly, who specialized in grip modifications, after parting ways with Brad Gilbert. She quickly won the WTA 1000 in Beijing and the WTA Tour Finals to salvage a year that failed to live up to her expectations. When those two shots are reliable, Gauff can beat anyone. Rybakina, with her devastating serve and the eerie serenity of her game when she plays, is just as capable.
There is a case to be made that the quartet is back in business. Given the more common chaos at the top of women’s tennis, there’s probably a better argument to be made that no one knows who the top four will be this time next year other than Swiatek and Sabalenka.
Is Ons Jabeur making a big comeback?
There are few champions more popular than “Minister of Happiness” Ons Jabeur, the three-time Grand Slam finalist who has put plans to start a family on hold until she wins a major title.
Unfortunately for her, that first Grand Slam remains not only elusive, but further away than it has been in some time. Knee and shoulder injuries destroyed her 2024 season, with the Tunisian speaking out about needing regular knee injections to be able to play following a third-round loss to Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon in July. It was no surprise when she ended her season in early September, having previously withdrawn from the US Open.
Tennis is a sport with improbable comebacks and Jabeur, 30, hopes to make one of his own. Coming back from this kind of injury after so much Grand Slam heartbreak would be an unforgettable moment, delighting the tennis world as much as its devoted fans.
Will there be greater progress on equity in 2025?
Women’s tennis has made some progress toward something approaching equity in 2024.
Pay equality in the biggest tournaments outside of the Grand Slam is either here or on the way, depending on the event. The WTA Tour Finals have regained some legitimacy with $15 million (£11.9 million) in prize money. It’s on par with men, even though the WTA had to go to Saudi Arabia, which doesn’t treat women as equal citizens, to get it.
Grand Slams and many other major tournaments clearly strive to put women on the show courts as often as men. The current ATP leadership understands that their own events are more valuable when women and men play together.
However, significant work remains to be accomplished. The French Open continues to embarrass itself by refusing to allow women to participate in the legendary night session on the Philippe Chatrier court, the largest court at Roland-Garros. A former women’s number one, Amélie Mauresmo, is the tournament director, which makes the situation both tragic and laughable.
Additionally, too often there are too many empty seats at women’s tournaments, making the sport feel like a minor league affair for many weeks. Empty seats send a message to everyone who sees the product on TV: “nothing too important is happening here.”
Tours and tournaments need to solve this problem. What is the answer? Better marketing? Ticket giveaways? A functional social network and a significant presence? All of the above. And more.
Two WTA players to watch
Mirra Andreeva and Iva Jovic are at the top of the list, for different reasons and in different areas of the rankings.
Andreeva, the young Russian star, has made great strides in 2024. She can win on any surface. She’s still only 17 and she’s reached that point in her career where she’s older than her ranking (#16), still a great milestone. She plays a kind of Zen tennis, combining power, intelligence and shootmaking beyond her years. She also has at her side one of tennis’s proven minds, Conchita Martinez, a grown-up with a capital G who could be the perfect person to guide her through these years of evolution. At this point, it would be a surprise if she doesn’t make a Grand Slam final this year.
Jovic is another 17-year-old American who didn’t have as much fanfare growing up as some of her contemporaries. She’s raw, but warms up quickly: Jovic received a wild card for the US Open at 16, where she beat Magda Linnette, who was twice her age and ranked 347 at the time. Jovic then went down a set and had a great chance to beat No. 28 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, losing in three sets on the hottest day of the tournament. There’s an expression about young baseball players: the good ones aren’t afraid of the field.
Jovic is not afraid of the tennis court.
This article was originally published in Athletics.
Tennis, Women’s Tennis
2024 The Athletic Media Society
