WTA Season 2025: 5 Tennis Superstars to Follow Next Season
As the new season approaches, tennis expert Andy Schooler picks out five players to follow ahead of the upcoming WTA Season 2025.
WTA Season 2025: Emma Raducanu
It should never be forgotten what Raducanu achieved at the 2021 US Open where she became the first qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam title. Literally no-one saw it coming. Suddenly, at the age of 18, the Briton had already achieved her career goal – is anyone really surprised there’s been something of a lull since?
However, there were plenty of signs in 2024 that she’s heading back towards the top. She posted 12 top-50 wins last season – the most of any player ranked outside the top 50 – and finished the year with some excellent performances at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals where she took GB within a inch of the final. The superb Tennis Abstract website put her ELO ranking – a metric which takes into account the quality of her opponents – at 12. In short, keep playing like you are and you’ll be knocking on the door of the top 10.
Of course, for that to happen, Raducanu will need to stay fit but it’s notable that on that front she’s hired renowned fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura, who has previously worked with world number ones Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka. Raducanu boasts big weapons and I’m expecting her to climb the rankings considerably in 2025.
WTA Season 2025: Belinda Bencic
Maybe I’m on shaky ground suggesting Bencic will soar in 2025 as a new mother. After all, I expected better things of Naomi Osaka last season when in a similar ‘comeback’ position. However, the early signs have been good from the Swiss, who returned to action at the end of October, six months after the birth of her daughter, Bella.
The 2021 Olympic champion, who also led her country to Billie Jean King Cup glory in 2022, made the final of the WTA 125 event in Angers earlier this month, in what was only her third tournament since giving birth. Some of the scorelines she’s posted have been very comprehensive and she should be competitive at tour level in the forthcoming campaign.
WTA Season 2025: Linda Noskova
The latest off the impressive Czech production line of tennis talent, Noskova climbed into the top 30 during the 2024 campaign but, having only just turned 20, there looks plenty more to come. She caught the eye with victory over Iga Swiatek at January’s Australian Open and followed that up by claiming her first WTA title in Monterrey.
She has already won plaudits for her coolness under pressure and a strong mental side is backed up by game with few weaknesses. Sadly, Noskova’s mother died in the summer and she didn’t play after the US Open until the Billie Jean King Cup Finals where, having not played for more than two months, she came close to defeating Swiatek again. Expect her rise to continue in 2025.
WTA Season 2025: Rebecca Sramkova
For the Slovak, 2024 was about making the transition from the second-tier ITF World Tour to the main WTA circuit and, frankly, that could not have gone much better. Come season’s end, few could match Sramkova’s 71% win rate at tour level. She captured her maiden WTA crown in Hua Hin and starred as she led her country to the Billie Jean King Cup final in Malaga. Now ranked in the top 50, Sramkova will be able to choose her own schedule in 2025 and that should reap further dividends. Packs a punch from the baseline and her ability to hit winners from deep is a major weapon.
WTA Season 2025: Iva Jovic
A player many won’t have heard of and there’s a good chance you won’t see much of the American teenager in the early part of the season either. However, that may not be the case in the second half of 2025. Jovic is a two-time Grand Slam doubles winner a junior level, while she initially proved her talent in singles by winning the under-14s event at the famous Orange Bowl tournament in Florida.
Currently the US under-18 champion, Jovic took out world number 42 Magda Linette at this year’s US Open to show she is already capable of competing at tour level. Has admitted she wants to follow the game style of Belinda Bencic – taking the ball early and “suffocating” opponents. Has also spoken of a need to improve the “first-strike elements” of her game but, having only just turned 17, there is plenty of time to work on that.
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