Rolling back the year: Top five highlights of the 2025 season
- Sean A'Hearn
- 7 hours ago
- 5 min read
Coming into the final tournaments on the tennis calendar, 2025 has been another memorable year on the ATP and WTA tours.
From one of the greatest Grand Slam finals of all time to the lowest-ranked player ever to win a Masters 1000 title, let's roll back the year as we revisit the best stories of the 2025 tennis season.
Maddie's fairytale run
The last time Madison Keys was in a Grand Slam final, she was comprehensively outplayed by fellow American and good friend, Sloane Stephens, at the 2017 US Open.
Both players were promising young stars, with the world seemingly at their feet.
Fast forward eight years, and it would be fair to say that neither fulfilled their potential. While Stephens made the French Open final the following year, Keys failed to make another Slam final.
That is, until the 2025 Australian Open. Leading into the tournament, the 29-year-old American lost in the Auckland quarter-finals and then got on a roll, winning 12 straight matches, taking out the Adelaide and Australian Open titles.
More impressively, she defeated the top two players in the world, Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka, in the final two matches to win the tournament.
Coming into her 46th Grand Slam campaign, Keys had fought with her internal demons and come to terms with her career, with or without a major trophy, which freed her up to play the best tennis of her career.
"I felt like from a pretty young age, I felt like if I never won a Grand Slam, then I wouldn't have lived up to what people thought I should have been. That was a pretty heavy burden to kind of carry around," Keys said following the 6-3 2-6 7-5 victory over Sabalenka.
"So I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam.
"I feel like finally letting go of that kind of internal talk that I had just gave me the ability to actually go out and play some really good tennis to actually win a Grand Slam."
THAT French Open final
We ran out of superlatives to describe the awe-inspiring level of tennis that Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz produced at this year's Roland-Garros final. The two best male tennis players on the planet put on a clinic and produced one of the greatest finals of all time.
The match had everything: brilliant shotmaking, momentum swings galore, mental fortitude from both players and, of course, that incredible comeback from Alcaraz.
Down two sets to love and a break in the third, the Spaniard was on the brink of defeat. Instead, he clawed his way back, one point at a time. That point started at 3-5, 0-40 down in the fourth set. Facing three match points, Alcaraz snuffed each one out, one point at a time.
Displaying tenacity under extreme pressure, the charismatic Spaniard spoke of his undying self-belief as the driver behind his comeback: "The match is not finished until he wins the last point," he said.
"I just believe all the time. I have never doubt about myself, even though in those match points down. I thought just one point at a time. Just one point, and then after one point and then try to save that game and keep believing."
Świątek's Wimbledon breakthrough
Iga Świątek didn't come into Wimbledon in the best form. Normally dominant on clay, the Pole went through the clay court swing without a title, her last coming at Roland-Garros 2024.
Switching to a surface - grass - that is arguably her weakest, Świątek went to work on her movement to prepare her for the quickest courts in tennis.
She did this with the help of her new coach, Wim Fissette, who introduced a style of controlled aggression, spin and patience. As she adjusted to this new game style, her confidence grew, getting better and better as the tournament progressed. Winning the last 20 games of the tournament on her way to the title, it's fair to say Wim's strategy worked.
This fact wasn't lost on Świątek, with the six-time major champion crediting her team for her Wimbledon breakthrough.
"Finding good people around you 'cause even though it's an individual sport, you're not going to do it on your own," Świątek acknowledged. "For sure, you need some experience around you to guide you and to help you in the toughest moments."
And let's not forget her extraordinary 6-0, 6-0 demolition of a hapless Amanda Anisimova at the All England Club final.
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Vacherot makes history
Valentin Vacherot wrote himself into the history books, becoming the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP Masters 1000 title in history (since 1990) at the Shanghai Masters in October, at No. 204 in the world.
What made the Monegasque's run even more remarkable is that he had to come from qualifying, winning a gobsmacking nine matches in a row, including wins over top 10 player, Holger Rune and four-time Shanghai champion, Novak Djokovic.
In fact, there were two great stories to come out of Shanghai, with Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech and Vacherot's cousin having a career-best run himself.
Rinderknech took some big scalps on the way to the final, including Alexander Zverev, Jiri Lehecka, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev, all top 20 players.
While Vacherot deservedly stole all the headlines with his history-making victory, both cousins won the tennis world over as they cheered each other on from the sidelines and shared words of encouragement.
The most heartfelt and inspiring message, however, came from Vacherot's girlfriend, whom he credited as giving him the strength to keep going after almost losing hope.
"I started losing faith this year… she kept telling me, 'Don't quit, it's going to happen',” Vacherot reflected after lifting the trophy.
Sensational Sabalenka still on top
Aryna Sabalenka confirmed she's still the best female player on the planet with her US Open victory.
While easily having the most consistent season on the WTA tour, Sabalenka also experienced a lot of heartbreak in 2025.
Losing the Australian Open final to American Madison Keys in January was a tough pill to swallow for the Belarusian. Thinking she could "forget it and move on", Sabalenka quickly realised after another devastating loss at the French Open final that she had to change her approach.
Recognising that her emotions got the better of her in both finals, the world No.1 had a renewed focus coming into the New York decider.
"Going into this final, I decided for myself that I'm going to control my emotions. I'm not going to let them take control over me, and it doesn't matter what happens in the match," she explained.
"My mindset was just going out there, fight for every point. Doesn't matter of the situation. Just focus on myself and focus on things that I have to do to win the match."
And so it was. The 27-year-old remained focused and calm under pressure throughout the final, despite boisterous home crowd support for her American opponent, Amanda Anisimova.
With her victory at Flushing Meadows, Sabalenka proved she's still the player to beat on the women's tour.
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