The top WTA storylines of the year so far, two months into 2025

Time waits for everyone

Time was when a common WTA Tour paradigm called for a swift path to success, with great players rapidly blossoming in their teens. But thanks to increased prize money and significant upgrades in fitness and nutrition, pro tennis careers can now last longer, posing the possibility of success at many different ages. As the four success stories below demonstrate, 2025 has been a year of timetable-defying achievements.

A decade after reaching the Australian Open semifinals as a teenager, Madison Keys at last earned her first major singles title shortly before turning 30. Twenty-seven-year-old Belinda Bencic came back from maternity leave and won Abu Dhabi. More than seven years after winning the US Open junior title and only a few months after taking a mental health break, Amanda Anisimova captured her first WTA 1000 title with a victory in Doha at the age of 23. In Dubai, 22-year-old Clara Tauson, winner of the 2019 Australian Open in juniors, advanced to her first WTA 1000 final.

Then again, there remains room for the precocious prodigy, proven by 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva’s title run in Dubai, an effort that included wins over Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina.

Aryna Sabalenka: Let the new season begin

Beaten narrowly in the finals of the Australian Open final, Aryna Sabalenka spoke with trademark candor.

“I'm just trying to stay positive right now, find something good, but that's crazy,” she said with a smile immediately after losing that match to Keys. “I couldn't even dream, couldn't even think about that [a] few years ago, that I'd be able to win that many matches in the row at one Slam. There is definitely something to be proud of and something I definitely have to improve and be better at.

"It's always a process of these things to be proud and then to improve some stuff, which didn't work well.”

But in her next two events, Doha and Dubai, Sabalenka won just one match, beaten by 26th-ranked Ekaterina Alexandrova in Doha and the next week by the 38th-ranked Tauson.

“Well, I'd say that for the last couple of years, I'm not doing well in the Middle East,” Sabalenka said in Dubai. “I believe we need to change something in the preparation, or I'll probably just keep these events because every time I don't feel well playing here. Even health-wise I'm struggling. Australia always taking a lot of energy out of me.”

Now that Sabalenka’s gone through the emotional aftermath of Australia and a subsequent enervating trip to the Middle East, my thinking is that she is now refreshed and will play excellent tennis as the Sunshine Swing gets underway.

Iga Swiatek: Serves and nerves

Though still ranked No. 2 in the world, Iga Swiatek’s last WTA title came in June, when she won Roland Garros for the fourth time. Over these last eight months, there have been several frustrating losses, with a pause in the middle for a drug-related suspension. Her defeats this year include one from match point up versus Madison Keys in the semis of the Australian Open, being overpowered by Jelena Ostapenko in the semis of Doha, then outmaneuvered by Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals of Dubai.

“I feel like I under-performed,” Swiatek said following the loss to Andreeva. “For sure I need to, like, talk with my team a bit and plan the next weeks a bit differently 'cause I haven't had much time to practice before these tournaments.”

One intriguing data point: Swiatek is 0-5 versus Ostapenko, a rare deficit for a player who’s long been ranked number one and earned five singles majors. As the Sunshine Swing gets underway, it will be intriguing to see how Swiatek finds new ways to address everything from nerves when serving to becoming more comfortable in the transition area of the court.

Read more: Iga Swiatek blames WTA calendar for upsets after Mirra Andreeva Dubai defeat

Elena Rybakina: A sad and cautionary tale

Much, but not all, has now been revealed about the toxic nature of Elena Rybakina’s relationship with Stefano Vukov. This tale of an abusive coach and an isolated player is a sad story. Unfortunately, it’s not a new one. Nor is the dysfunction something that suddenly surfaces once a player starts competing on the WTA Tour. Scratch deeper and you’ll see that what happened to Rybakina is the branch of a bigger, insidious tree. For the roots are planted years earlier, when an enthusiastic player and her ambitious parents often surrender life balance and concurrently put that player’s hopes in the hands of a coach who is eager to make a name for himself.

Many times, I’ve heard tales of young players laughing about the so-called “tough love” served by their coaches—a euphemism not just for demanding drills, but also for harsh language and an attendant, inappropriate power dynamic that can tragically extend away from the tennis court. Memo to coaches: It’s been proven that yelling is not an effective management technique. Teach, don’t screech. As for parents, please find ways to keep other activities and friends in your child’s life.

As Rybakina and Vukov's interactions prove, isolation is perilous.

Americans Gauff, Pegula, Navarro hoping for more

For three of the WTA's four Americans currently in the Top 10—Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro—the Doha-Dubai swing was frustrating: Gauff went 0-2, Navarro 1-2, and Pegula 3-2.

Said Gauff in Dubai, “Being on tour, being a pro on tour, I had to learn to accept, trust the process, trust that when you're in the middle of working on things, you're not going to win all the time. Yeah, that's the hard part of just, like, losing matches when you're trying to work with something because, yeah, you just have that trust that in the long run those losses will turn into wins. For the most part it has worked for me.”

Now that they’re back competing in North America, perhaps each will find better form.

Jelena Ostapenko once again had a moment. How soon is the next one?

A few times a year, emerging like the occasional eclipse, 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko commands the court with so much power that you wonder why she hasn’t spent the last eight years ranked inside the Top 3. Such was the case in Doha. Over the course of a brilliant week, Ostapenko’s victims included Jasmine Paolini, Ons Jabeur and Swiatek.

But after reaching the finals without the loss of a set, the magic left Ostapenko’s hands and she lost to Anisimova. Then two days later, approximately 700 miles away in Dubai, Ostapenko was beaten by qualifier Moyuka Uchijima (Anisimova also lost her Dubai opener).

Per the movie Forrest Gump, Ostapenko remains tennis’ box of chocolates: You never know what you’re going to get. Call her yet another example of what makes tennis such a glorious showcase for individualism.