Best moments of 2025 tennis season: Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic feature
Published 31/12/2025 at 14:48 GMT
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Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz were the dominant players on the ATP Tour in the 2025 tennis season while Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Madison Keys won a Grand Slam title each on the WTA Tour. But what were the standout moments in 2025? From incredible finals to amazing shots and landmark celebrations, we pick out the top 10 from the season...
Sinner beats Alcaraz to retain ATP Finals title
Video credit: SNTV
The 2025 tennis season featured a number of highlights and memorable matches.
The Grand Slams were dominated on the men’s side by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who won all four between them. On the WTA Tour, there were four different champions - Madison Keys (Australian Open), Coco Gauff (French Open), Iga Swiatek (Wimbledon), and Aryna Sabalenka (US Open).
The season also saw several breakout players emerge - most notably Alexandra Eala and Victoria Mboko - and some landmark moments.
Join us as we wrap up the best moments of the year…
Alcaraz v Sinner thriller
Where else to start?
Five hours and 29 minutes, three championship points saved, a fightback from two sets down, the most incredible drama and shot-making.
Sit back and enjoy the highlights from the match of the year between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner…
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The top shots from an extraordinary Roland-Garros final
Video credit: TNT Sports
Keys' Grand Slam breakthrough
Madison Keys’ maiden Grand Slam victory was one of the most heartwarming moments of the year.
Once tipped as a future world No. 1 by coach Brad Gilbert, Keys’ career has maybe not hit the heights some thought it would.
But the talent was always there, just as fellow American Sloane Stephens later said: "It was never if, just when."
In Melbourne, it all came together for Keys as she won a thrilling semi-final against Swiatek and then won the biggest match of her career against Sabalenka in the final, leaving TNT Sports’ Laura Robson in tears as she watched her friend triumph.
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Keys stuns Sabalenka to claim maiden Grand Slam title - Australian Open highlights
Video credit: TNT Sports
Gauff rules in Paris
For Sabalenka, it might have been the "worst final" she ever played, but for Gauff, the French Open was a triumph of her resilience.
Three years earlier, she had been in tears after losing to Swiatek in the French Open final. This time, she battled back from dropping the first set against Sabalenka and maintained a high level in difficult conditions to come out on top against the world No. 1.
"It was a tough time," Gauff said afterwards as she reflected on her 2022 final defeat. "I was doubting myself, wondering if I would ever be able to circumnavigate it, especially my mentality going into that match.
"I was crying before that final, and I was so nervous. I was like, if I can't handle this, how am I going to handle it again? I just felt really ready today."
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Gauff's best shots from 2025 French Open
Video credit: TNT Sports
Sinner wins Wimbledon
Sinner’s indoor brilliance is worth a mention - 31 wins in a row after his Nitto ATP Finals victory - but his first Wimbledon trophy was probably his highlight of the year.
It might not have happened if an inspired Grigor Dimitrov had not got injured when leading the Italian by two sets to love in the last 16, but Sinner made the most of that escape.
He dispatched Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the semis and then, 35 days after a crushing loss to Alcaraz at the French Open, turned the tables to win at SW19.
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Wimbledon highlights: Sinner defeats Alcaraz in thrilling final to claim maiden title
Video credit: SNTV
Djokovic hits century
For most other players, reaching four Grand Slam semi-finals would be seen as a highly successful season. Not so for Djokovic, who is so used to winning the biggest titles and is still hunting No. 25 to break Margaret Court’s all-time record.
With Alcaraz and Sinner running the tour, another major looks difficult for Djokovic now, but he did make more history in 2025 by winning Geneva to secure his 100th career title.
He is only the third man - after Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) - to reach a century, and his victory in Athens to end the year means he is just two behind Federer’s tally.
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Highlights: Djokovic wins 100th career singles title with gruelling victory over Hurkacz
Video credit: TNT Sports
Venus being Venus
Sister Serena might have retired at the age of 40, but Venus Williams is still going strong at 45.
Listed as ‘inactive’ for the first half of the season by the WTA Tour, when Venus returned to the court at the Washington Open, it was her first match since March 2024.
It was like she had never been away as she won 6-3 6-4 against Peyton Stearns, 22 years her junior, to become the oldest winner on tour since Martina Navratilova at the age of 47 in 2004.
There was more to come at the US Open as Venus pushed 11th seed Karolina Muchova close and then teamed up with Leylah Fernandez to reach the quarter-finals of the doubles.
She spoke about her return in typical Venus fashion when asked if she felt any satisfaction in proving people wrong.
"No, because I'm not here for anyone else except for me. I have nothing to prove. Zip. Zero."
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Venus Williams becomes the oldest player to win a WTA tour-level singles match since 2004
Video credit: SNTV
Alcaraz’s magical drop shot
There were lots of contenders for shot of the year, but Alcaraz’s incredible drop shot at the Laver Cup might be the best.
Not only for the shot itself, an incredible stooped stop volley that had Alex Michelsen scrambling to the net in vain, but also the reactions.
"How on earth?" exclaimed TNT Sports’ commentator Simon Reed, as Alcaraz’s team-mate Casper Ruud dropped in his racquet in disbelief.
The Team Europe bench was a picture of incredulity with Alexander Zverev and Flavio Cobelli both standing hands-on-head in amazement while team captain Yannick Noah mimed bowing down to Alcaraz, and vice captain Tim Henman applauded.
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Watch: Alcaraz wows everyone at Laver Cup with mind-boggling drop volley
Video credit: TNT Sports
Swiatek crushes Anisimova
Swiatek is no stranger to bagels, but even she described her 6-0 6-0 thrashing of Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon final as "super surreal".
It was the first 6-0 6-0 final in the Open era at Wimbledon and the first in a Grand Slam final since the 1988 French Open, when Steffi Graf beat Natasha Zvereva in just 34 minutes.
The win moved Swiatek one away from the career Grand Slam (just missing the Australian Open) and continued her perfect record of six from six in major finals.
For Anisimova, a slight consolation would come a few months later as she recorded "the most meaningful victory of my life" with victory over Swiatek in the US Open quarter-finals.
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Wimbledon Highlights: Swiatek dominates Anisimova to secure singles glory
Video credit: SNTV
Vacherot's Shanghai fairytale
Incroyable barely does justice to Valentin Vacherot’s Shanghai Masters title run.
Not only did the Frenchman beat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final to more than double his entire career earnings (£824,000 v £380,000).
As world No. 204, he also became the lowest-ranked player to ever win a Masters title.
And he came back from a set down to win in six of his nine matches, and he beat Novak Djokovic in the semis, and he only made the qualifying list after two players withdrew.
AND he only ever won one ATP Tour match before the tournament.
"It is unreal what just happened," he said after the final. "I have no idea what is happening right now. I am not even dreaming, it is just crazy."
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Highlights: Vacherot completes Shanghai fairytale in battle of cousins
Video credit: SNTV
Draper wins Indian Wells
From dangerous challenger to Grand Slam contender, Jack Draper levelled up in 2025.
He won the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells as he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the semis and then Holger Rune in the final.
He made a first clay final in Madrid and might have gone further at the French Open had he not run into an inspired Alexander Bublik in the fourth round.
The second half of the season was not as successful as Draper’s Wimbledon hopes were ended in the second round and he then didn’t play after the US Open due to injury.
But Draper showed the quality that could make him a force in 2026.
Bencic win first title as a mum
Belinda Bencic won her second Abu Dhabi Open title in two years with victory over Ashlyn Krueger in the final in February.
The difference between the two titles? This time, Bencic was not only holding the trophy, but also her 10-month old daughter Bella.
When Bencic returned to tennis after giving birth in October, she was ranked at 1,213, but she ends 2025 just outside the top 10 after a hugely impressive season.
As well as her Abu Dhabi title run - which featured wins over former Grand Slam champions Marketa Vondrousova and Elena Rybakina - she also reached the Wimbledon semis and won in Tokyo.
Eala and Mboko break through
As her 2025 season came to a close, Alexandra Eala said she hopes it is just the start "of what I hope to be a long, happy and fruitful career on tour".
The signs are positive after a breakout season.
Eala first announced herself in Miami, where she beat former Grand Slam champions Jelena Ostapenko and Keys before shocking world No. 2 Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
At Eastbourne, she made her first WTA Tour final and at the US Open, she became the first Filipino player to win a main draw match at a Grand Slam by beating 14th seed Clara Tauson.
Mboko was another young star who shone in 2025.
The Canadian racked up 60 wins and won two titles at the Canadian Open and the Hong Kong Tennis Open. Her victory in Montreal as a wildcard was memorable as she thrilled the home fans by beating Gauff and Rybakina before toppling Naomi Osaka in the final.
Finishing the year at No. 18 in the rankings, Mboko could be set for further success in 2026.
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'Wow, what a player!' - Mboko a 'breath of fresh air', says Wilander
Video credit: TNT Sports
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