Tennis expert Andy Schooler looks ahead to the 2026 tennis season and picks out five tennis stars to follow on the WTA Tour. Read his exclusive thoughts for kwiff ahead of the upcoming new season.
WTA Tour: 5 Huge Tennis Stars to Follow
The 2025 campaign ended with few signs of the Alcaraz-Sinner duopoly being broken up – remember, they’ve now won the last eight Grand Slam titles between them. However, if there’s a player with a high ceiling who could potentially muscle his way in, then Fonseca holds claims. The Brazilian has the shot-making ability to do so and he’s just completed his first full season on the tour, finishing 24th in the rankings and going 26-16 at tour level.
WTA Tour: Stars to Follow 2026, Mirra Andreeva
It’s hard to believe Andreeva is still only 18 years old but that’s the case. While some would have expected more from Andreeva last season, one which saw her rise from 16th to ninth in the WTA rankings, it was a year during which she will have learned much, both in terms of progress on the court and how to deal with the pressure off it.
There were big titles in Indian Wells and Dubai when Andreeva’s mental toughness was praised, although that is something that began to unravel as the season went on. Still, she’s looked to have a old head on young shoulders and that maturity can serve her well in the coming season. Coach Conchita Martinez has reportedly urged Andreeva to focus more on singles and, following a close-season reset, a first Grand Slam final looks a realistic goal.
WTA Tour: Stars to Follow 2026, Tereza Valentova
Czech tennis has been something of a production line of talent for much of the last 20 years and Valentova is potentially their next big star. The 18-year-old won two titles on the ITF World Tour in 2025 and two more at WTA 125 level as she went an impressive 47-12 for the season. Admittedly, the majority of those matches were not at main-tour level but when she did venture onto the WTA circuit at the end of the campaign, she made the final in Osaka.
Valentova went 4-4 against the top 20 last season, results which suggest she is ready for what looks likely to be a full campaign at tour level. Her strength is on return – the teenager won 45.9% of return games in her WTA matches. Of those who played at least 10 tour-level matches, that figure was only bettered by a certain Coco Gauff.
WTA Tour: Stars to Follow 2026, Alexandra Eala
Eala enjoyed a massive breakthrough when toppling Iga Swiatek in Miami last season – and she also pushed the reigning Wimbledon champion hard on her beloved clay in Madrid. The left-hander backed up that run in Florida by making her first WTA final in Eastbourne, blowing championship points in agonising style against Maya Joint, and her counter-punching game looks capable of progressing her further up the rankings in 2026.
It’s interesting to note she effectively started her season early by opting to represent the Philippines in the Southeast Asian Games – and winning gold. That may pay dividends in the early part of the season – Eala is due to kick off her new WTA campaign in Auckland.
WTA Tour: Stars to Follow 2026, Emerson Jones
Jones has good sporting pedigree – her mother was world triathlon champion and also won a silver medal at the Athens Olympics of 2004. More pertinently, the Australian is one of the world’s best juniors, hitting the summit of the ITF junior rankings earlier this year.
Her results at senior level, which include beating world number 37 Wang Xinyu in Adelaide back in January, have already been good enough to propel her to the cusp of the world’s top 150. Her forehand is a weapon, one which should push her into the top 100 this season, perhaps beyond.
WTA Tour: Stars to Follow 2026, Mia Pohankova
There were a few big jumpers in ranking terms in 2025. I picked out Iva Jovic in this column and she soared from outside the top 200 to end the season as the world number 35. However, Janice Tjen’s rise was even more mercurial, the Indonesian moving from 578th to 54th across the course of the season.
It’s pretty hard to know who will rise from the depths in such impressive fashion but if anyone is to do so in 2026, perhaps it will be reigning junior Wimbledon champion Pohankova. The 17-year-old Slovak has played little on the main tour so far but when she did make her WTA debut at the end of last season, she duly made the quarter-finals in Chennai. Pohankova won on the ITF circuit at just 16 in her homeland and looks a player worth keeping an eye on in 2026.
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