The 2025 professional tennis tournament has ended with many unforgettable marks. From the dominance of superstars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, to the strong progress of young faces such as Amanda Anisimova and Ben Shelton, and the impressive return of Naomi Osaka. In general, world tennis has had a colorful and emotional year.
Alcaraz and Sinner have almost dominated the ATP when they shared four Grand Slam titles together. In contrast, the race on the WTA Tour is much more balanced, with four different champions including Madison Keys, Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka.
Throughout the season, both in the ATP and WTA, world tennis witnessed many surprises and emotional stories, all of which contributed to a memorable year of competition.
The Alcaraz - Sinner double race shaping the 2025 ATP season
The 2025 ATP season revolves around two names and a direct competition between them: Alcaraz and Sinner. The duo has a huge gap over the rest of the ATP Tour, with the difference in points between Sinner (2nd) and Alexander Zverev (3rd) reaching 6,340 points - even larger than the gap between Zverev and the world-ranked 1,000-ranked player.
However, there is almost no clear difference between Alcaraz and Sinner. Alcaraz won Roland Garros and the US Open, ending the year as world No. 1 for the second time in his career. Meanwhile, Sinner won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and won the ATP Finals for the second consecutive year.
That balance made tennis legend Chris Evert admit that she could not have chosen someone better. "I really don't know who to choose," the former American tennis player said.
However, two other former American players, Sam Querrey and Pam Shriver, have a slight advantage for Alcaraz. The Spaniard will win six more titles in 2025, including three Masters 1000 titles, while leading Sinner in head-to-head record with four wins in six encounters.
"I have considered giving him the equivalent title, but Sinner's months off and not being able to keep the No. 1 position at the end of the year have caused the balance to lean towards Alcaraz" - Shriver explained.
Whether choosing Alcaraz or Sinner for the Best Tennis player of the year award, there is one undeniable thing: they are two of the best players in the world and are expected to continue to dominate the ATP Tour in 2026.
Even opponents admit that reality. "They have maintained their extremely high class for a long time. The rest can just continue to try and wait for opportunities. At least I hope they don't show up every day of the year" - world No. 7 Alex de Minaur said before the ATP Finals semi-final against Sinner.
Sabalenka surpasses everyone, No. 1 WTA without controversy
While the 2025 ATP race is almost centered around two names Alcaraz and Sinner, in the WTA, the picture is much more diverse and balanced. Four different tennis players have won Grand Slam titles this year.
Elena Rybakina ended the season winning the WTA Finals, while many other names continuously won the WTA 1000 and advanced deep to the Grand Slams.
However, even in that fierce competition, there is still one player who is superior to the rest and is unanimously voted the Best Female Tennis player of the Year. That was Sabalenka.
The Belarusian tennis player maintained the world No. 1 position throughout the tournament, won the US Open and became the first person since Serena Williams to successfully defend this title.
Sabalenka also reached the Australian Open final and Roland Garros, the Wimbledon semi-final, and won three more titles in the year, including two 1,000-level championships. In total, she participated in 9 finals - a rare number that shows stability.
