WTA 2025: Six most memorable moments of the year
The 2025 WTA season saw a mix of established and rising stars make a mark on the women’s tour.
The WTA 2025 season has witnessed the women’s tour drift into uncharted territory. Teens Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko struck gold on the WTA Tour, even as the established pros found themselves some distance from their best. Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko represented the teen brigade in 2025 with four titles between them.
The teenagers had a role to play in upending the status quo, helping themselves to victories at the expense of the familiar names on the women’s tour in 2025.
The 2025 season also witnessed players who had spent significant time on the fringes, such as Madison Keys and Jasmine Paolini, find their place in the spotlight.
Paolini deserves special mention despite a one-off title to her name in 2025. The Italian overcame Coco Gauff in the Italian Open finals to become the first homegrown champion at the WTA 1000 event since Raffaella Reggi in 1985.
It was also the year of late-season surges as the likes of Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Elena Rybakina shrugged off a disappointing start to shine in the second half of the season.
The events that unfolded in the 2025 season highlight the unpredictability and competitive nature of the women’s tour.
Here are five moments that truly define this incredible year, even as a new tug-of-war emerges between generations.
Madison Keys winning her maiden Grand Slam
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, the favourite to win her third straight Australian Open title, ran into unlikely finalist Madison Keys in Melbourne.
Keys, making her debut in a Grand Slam final at the 2025 Australian Open, went on to defeat Sabalenka 6 – 3, 2 – 6, 7 – 5 for her first major title. Her previous best result in Melbourne were the semi-final appearances she made in 2015 and 2022.
Keys knocked out No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek on the way to emulating compatriot Sofia Kenin’s 2020 title run and return to the WTA Top 10 for a career-high No. 7 after victory in Australia. Keys, 29, entered the record books as the fourth-oldest first-time Grand Slam women’s champion in the Open Era.
Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko winning their first WTA 1000 titles
Andreeva’s semi-final run at Brisbane was a springboard to title runs at Dubai and Indian Wells. The 17-year-old won the WTA 1000 titles back-to-back, defeating Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina in Dubai to become the youngest WTA 1000 champion.
Andreeva repeated the feat at Indian Wells, defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and World No. 2 Swiatek en route to her second title of the season.
Mboko became the toast of Canada on winning the WTA 1000 Montreal Open as a wildcard. She was only the second Canadian to win on home turf and the first since Bianca Andreescu in 2019.
She accounted for four grand slam champions on the way – Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka. The 19-year-old clinched the Hong Kong Open in November and made her Top 20 debut at No. 18 in the WTA Rankings.
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Coco Gauff winning the 2025 French Open
Coco Gauff had to endure heartbreak in Rome ahead of arriving in Paris. The American lost in the finals of the Italian Open to Jasmine Paolini in straight sets. In the 2022 finals, Gauff lost out to Iga Swiatek in straight sets.
The No. 2 seed lost the opening set to Aryna Sabalenka in the 2025 finals, and it appeared that history was repeating itself. Gauff had lost to Sabalenka in the Madrid Open finals, and the Belarusian looked all set to claim her fourth title of the season.
But Gauff was not to be denied a title in Paris for the second time. She bounced back after losing a close opening set tie-break to win her maiden French Open trophy with a 6(5) – 7, 6-2, 6-4 victory. The title run in Roland Garros made her the first American winner since Serena Williams in 2015.
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Iga Swiatek’s title run at Wimbledon
Iga Swiatek was facing a title drought ahead of Wimbledon 2025. She was starved of a win since defending her French Open title in 2024. The Pole was coming off a semi-final loss at Roland Garros. Swiatek dropped a solitary set en route to her first SW19 final.
In a lopsided title round clash, Swiatek double-bageled a hapless Amanda Anisimova 6 – 0, 6 – 0 in just 57 minutes to go up 6-0 in Grand Slam finals.
The ‘Queen of Clay’ mastered the grass courts of London and became the first Pole to win Wimbledon and complete Grand Slam victories on all three surfaces – hard, grass, and clay.
It was a homecoming for Swiatek, who had won the Girls Singles title in 2018. The Pole went on to win add two more titles at Cincinnati and Seoul, which enabled her to finish her fourth straight season in the Top 2 of the WTA Rankings.
Aryna Sabalenka defending her US Open title
Despite faltering in Melbourne, Aryna Sabalenka ensured a strong start to the 2025 season. Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid. Then came back-to-back disappointments at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, with Americans Coco Gauff and Amanda Anisimova responsible for the outcome.
In New York, the Belarusian was back on her favourite surface and looking to be the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to retain her crown. It was a task she accomplished with few hiccups, dropping just one set in the last four to Jessica Pegula.
Awaiting Sabalenka in the finals was Amanda Anisimova for a rematch of their SW19 semi-finals. The World No. 1 flipped the script on this occasion, winning 6-3, 7-6(3) to win her fourth career Grand Slam and snap her losing streak to Americans in 2025.
Elena Rybakina’s unbeaten title run in the WTA Finals
The path to Elena Rybakina’s maiden trophy at the year-ending WTA Finals was filled with moments of will she, won’t she. After all, the Kazakh secured qualification by a whisker first by winning the Ningbo Open in October, though it was her title run in Strasbourg that set her on her way.
Rybakina clinched the final qualification spot by reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 Tokyo Open.
What followed was a dream run in Riyadh, in which she swept the group stage to remain undefeated. The Kazakh defeated Jessica Pegula to set up the dream final against World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Rybakina ended the Belarusian’s undefeated run in Riyadh, 6-3, 7-6(0), to win her maiden WTA Finals trophy in her third attempt and pick up a winner’s paycheck of $5.23 million, the biggest payout in tennis history.
Why was the 2025 WTA season considered special?
The season stood out for its unpredictability, with teenagers winning big titles, established stars bouncing back later in the year, and several first-time champions emerging.
Which young players made a major impact in 2025?
Teenagers Mirra Andreeva and Victoria Mboko made headlines by winning multiple WTA titles, including WTA 1000 events.
Which Grand Slam did Coco Gauff win in 2025?
Coco Gauff won her first French Open title at Roland Garros in 2025.
How did Iga Swiatek perform at Wimbledon 2025?
Iga Swiatek won Wimbledon for the first time, completing Grand Slam titles on all three surfaces.
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Meet Fazeel—a bibliophile and sci-fi aficionado who devours books and movies alike. His favorite form of exercise? Watching tennis from a perfectly positioned couch. Whether he's lost in a gripping novel or absorbed in a five-hour Grand Slam final, he's all in. Favorite quote: “You cannot be serious” – John McEnroe.
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