Top five ATP players who can bag their maiden title in 2025

Some big names will try to pick up the missing puzzle piece in 2025 – the Grand Slam trophy.

The decade 2010-2020 was synonymous with tennis’ ‘Big 3’, who need no introduction. In those ten years, only  Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic surfaced as first-time Grand Slam winners. Thus far, with the dawn of the 2020s, we have been given four different first-time Grand Slam Champions – Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz, and Jannik Sinner.

At the onset of the 2025 season, yet another new Grand Slam title holder could emerge from the men’s tour. Despite the dominance of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in 2024, worthy challengers to the duo are waiting in the wings with noteworthy performances in the current season. 

Also Read: Top five tennis rivalries to watch out for in 2025

Taylor Fritz

Taylor Fritz, the big-hitting Californian, broke into the top 5 in 2023, and on reaching his first Grand Slam final at the 2024 US Open and the ATP finals title round, rose to a career-high of No. 4. Fritz, with his current form, looks set to claim a second big title after the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells in 2022. 

Should the 27-year-old fulfil his potential and win one of the four Grand Slams in 2025, he will become the first American to win a major since Andy Roddick triumphed at the 2003 US Open. Fritz scored eleven top 10 wins this year, third behind Sinner (18) and Alcaraz (12). The presence of Fritz in the business end of the majors could be tricky for his opponents. 

Jack Draper

Jack Draper made it to three finals this season, winning two of them. There is no reason why one of them can’t translate into a Grand Slam trophy next season. The 22-year-old southpaw, by winning in Vienna and Stuttgart, ensured a significant leap in the ATP rankings to a career-high of No. 15  from No. 61 at the beginning of the year and become the No. 1 British player. 

Draper also made the last four at the 2024 US Open, where he lost to Jannik Sinner on his first trip to the semi-finals at a Grand Slam. The World No. 15 also got the better of defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets in Queen’s Club, London. 

Holger Rune

Four titles from five title-round appearances for Rune, the mercurial Scandinavian, sums up his professional career in a nutshell. Despite falling to No. 13 from No. 4 in the ATP rankings, the 21-year-old Dane has what it takes to win a Grand Slam trophy.

Rune reached the final of Brisbane before appearing in four other semi-final appearances at WTA 500 and WTA 1000 events. He defeated Frances Tiadoe on home turf at the Cincinnati Masters and Alex de Minaur at the Paris Masters in the last four stage. Rune looks well-placed to convert those semi-final appearances into something bigger – like a Grand Slam title in the 2025 season.

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitispas of Greece has an impressive resume with one glaring omission. He has two Grand Slam finals under his belt at Roland Garros in 2021 and the Australian Open in 2023. Tsitsipas has yet to win a major title despite being a one-time top 3 player in the world. 

The 26-year-old Athenian bounced back from a somewhat barren 2023 to claim the ATP Masters 1000 Monte-Carlo for the third time in three years, having won the title in 2022 and 2021. Tsitsipas alos won the ATP Finals in 2019. He was a set away from claiming the French Open in 2021 but fell to Djokovic in a five-set final, 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Despite ending the year out of the top ten for the first time since 2020, at No. 11, Tsitsipas will be the player to watch at the first two majors as he reached the last eight or better in Melbourne and Paris. If Tsitsipas is to end his Grand Slam drought, it will be at one of these two venues.   

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev is the most accomplished player on tour yet to win a Grand Slam title. The German’s resume includes two career Grand Slam finals. Zverev played the 2020 US Open Final and the 2024 Roland Garros final, losing both from an advantageous position. 

In New York, he lost a two set to nil lead against Dominic Thiem and a two sets to one lead against Carlos Alcaraz in Paris. He became the No.2 player for the first time in 2022, but his ranking fell on missing the second half of the season after an ankle injury in Roland Garros. Zverev clawed his way back to the No. 2 spot in 2024 and finished his year there.

His big titles include two ATP Finals titles (2018, 2021), and the Olympic gold in Tokyo in 2021. The other wins of note are his seven Masters 1000 titles (Rome and Canada in 2017, Madrid in 2018, Madrid and Cincinnati in 2021 and Rome and Paris in 2024).

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