Different Tournaments, Changing Champions

Two months have passed since the 2025 tennis season began at the end of the previous year. The elimination of top world tennis players in the early rounds, along with the emergence of constantly changing champions, demonstrates a highly open competition.

The competition among female tennis players in the professional WTA tournament in 2025 began without surprises. The world's top-ranked athlete, Aryna Sabalenka, won the WTA 500 Brisbane, one of the tournaments in the first week that serves as a warm-up event for the Australian Open Grand Slam.

Sabalenka, in fact, almost made a hat trick of Australian Open titles, a feat last achieved by Martina Hingis in the women's singles competition at Melbourne Park. Hingis won the Australian Open from 1997-1999, in addition to being best at Wimbledon and the 1997 US Open.

However, Sabalenka was outperformed by Keys, who displayed solid performance over two weeks at Melbourne Park. In her journey to claim her first trophy at the Grand Slam level, Keys defeated four top-ten seeds, three of whom are Grand Slam champions, namely Elena Rybakina in the fourth round, Iga Swiatek (semifinals), and Sabalenka (final).

The emergence of Keys as the Australian Open champion marks one of the moments that highlights the openness of the women's singles competition at the beginning of the year and the possibility that it will continue in the following months.

Two major events in the Middle East in February showcased this potential. Amanda Anisimova and Mirra Andreeva claimed their first titles at the WTA 1000 level, respectively, in Doha, Qatar (February 9-15), and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (February 16-22). In the previous three years, the championship titles in Doha or Dubai were won by Grand Slam champions, such as Swiatek and Barbora Krejcikova.

In 2025, Swiatek's chances of getting a hat-trick of titles in Doha were stopped by Jelena Ostapenko in the semifinals. Ostapenko also became the only tennis player to always win in all five meetings with Swiatek. In fact, with five titles, Swiatek has a reputation as an active tennis player with the second most Grand Slam titles after Venus Williams.

With Venus playing less and less, Swiatek is arguably the active player with the most Grand Slam titles. The other nine players with more Grand Slam titles are retirees. One of them is Serena Williams (23 Grand Slam titles) as the last player to retire, in 2022.

Of the 16 seeds in Doha, Swiatek was one of only three players to reach the quarterfinals. The other two, Rybakina and Jessica Pegula, were eliminated in the last eight. Eleven other seeds were eliminated in the first and second rounds, including Sabalenka, Cori “Coco” Gauff and Zheng Qin Wen. Andreeva, the 12th seed, also crashed out in the second round.

Things didn't change much in Dubai the following week. Swiatek took a step back after being defeated by Andreeva in the quarterfinals, while Sabalenka only managed one better than in Doha. Coco and Zheng were eliminated in the second round. Jasmine Paolini and Pegula played until the third round.

Of the top players, only Rybakina made it to the semifinals, before being stopped by 17-year-old Andreeva, who became the champion. In the title match, Andreeva defeated Clara Tauson, who was ranked 38th in the world when she played in Dubai. After that moment, both had career-best rankings, with Andreeva at ninth and Tauson at 23rd.

Andreeva became the 10th player to win the 11 WTA tournaments held over seven weeks in 2025. The Dubai title was her first final at the WTA 1000 level.

A year ago, Andreeva also won her first WTA Tour final, at the WTA 250 Iasi in Romania. That same year, she also made her WTA 500 final debut in Ningbo, China, but lost to Daria Kasatkina.

With her journey in the professional tennis arena only starting in 2022, Andreeva's career can be said to have skyrocketed, even faster than Coco's. Both of them made early surprises when they reached the fourth round of Wimbledon as qualifiers in different years. Coco did it at Wimbledon 2019 at the age of 15, while Andreeva at the age of 16 (Wimbledon 2023).

A year later, Andreeva made it to the semifinals of a Grand Slam, the French Open. Coco reached that stage at the age of 18 when she reached the final of the same event in 2022.

Coco was also older, at 19, when she won her first WTA 1000 title, at Cincinnati 2023. That title led to her next achievement, three weeks later, when she won the Grand Slam, the US Open.

However, weaknesses that are still often seen, such as double faults and fading enthusiasm when not in the best condition, make Coco's achievements unstable. Even though he has been part of the world's top three tennis players since September 2023.

Second-round losses in Doha and Dubai, after a quarter-final exit at the Australian Open, were representative of Coco's shortcomings. This situation was exploited by other players, such as Marta Kostyuk who defeated her in Doha and McCartney Kessler in Dubai.

Swiatek did not deny that her performance in the Middle East was disappointing. When playing against Ostapenko in Doha, she could not control her emotions and slammed her racket during the match. Of the three individual tournaments in 2025, the world number two has not reached a single final.

The disappointment of losing to Keys in the Australian Open semifinals was deeply felt by the always hard-core Swiatek. Moreover, her journey to the final four at Melbourne Park this year was smooth, dropping only 14 games in five rounds and creating a “bagel” score (6-0) in three rounds.

For the first time since her debut in 2019, the Polish player had the best chance of winning the Australian Open. Her chances were even greater than when she reached the 2022 semifinals because her performance in 2025 was so solid. However, instead of bouncing back, as when she won the WTA Doha after losing in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open, Swiatek's performance declined.

In men's tennis, Carlos Alcaraz has yet to show his best ability despite winning the ATP 500 Rotterdam on February 9. At the Australian Open, when he came as one of the title contenders, he let his mind be distracted by the injury condition of Novak Djokovic, his opponent in the quarterfinals. Alcaraz lost focus on his game and lost to Djokovic who eventually retired during the semifinals (against Alexander Zverev) due to a torn left hamstring.

After winning in Rotterdam, in an interview with Eurosport, Juan Carlos Ferrero hopes his protégé can bounce back. Moreover, indoor tournaments, such as ATP Rotterdam, have always been a nightmare for Alcaraz.

However, the 21-year-old Spaniard has not been able to return to his form when he won two consecutive Grand Slams, the French Open and Wimbledon, in 2024. Alcaraz was eliminated by Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 Doha, February 17-22.

After losing to Lehecka, Alcaraz was even confused when asked by reporters to give an assessment of his performance. He also used the time after the defeat in Doha to prepare for the Indian Wells Masters, March 5-16, a tournament he has won in the last two editions.

If Alcaraz can overcome his three-tournament absence in early 2025, he has a great chance of winning again at Indian Wells. His closest rival, world number one Jannik Sinner, is out due to a three-month suspension from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Sinner, who is defending his Australian Open title, will not be eligible to compete until early May.

Djokovic is still doubtful of recovering when the Indian Wells season begins. Moreover, the hardcourt tournament with its best-of-three-sets format provides a more even chance of winning compared to the Grand Slam which uses a best-of-five-sets format for men's singles.

Of the 13 tournaments held until the seventh week of 2025, there are 12 players who have brought home ATP tournament titles. Only Felix Auger-Aliassime has won two tournaments, and that too at a low level, namely the ATP 250 Adelaide and Montpellier.

Swiatek was not surprised by the rapid exit of many top players in early 2025, especially in tournaments in the Middle East, including herself. With a tight schedule, they struggle to maintain top-level performance at every event. Moreover, tennis players who are classified as top committed players have an obligation to participate in tournaments with certain categories and numbers.

There are definitely issues with the schedule. Plus, we have to move continents, adapt to the pitch and the ball.

Top committed players are those ranked in the top ten in the world at the end of the previous year, including Swiatek. These players must compete in all four Grand Slams, all ten WTA 1000 events, and the year-end WTA Finals if they qualify. Four of the ten WTA 1000 events are considered “mandatory” events: Indian Wells, Miami, Madrid, and Beijing.

They must also compete in (at least) two WTA 500 tournaments and may compete in two WTA 250 tournaments if they have qualified for all mandatory tournaments. This does not include championships that are held in the name of a country, such as the United Cup, Billie Jean King Cup, and Davis Cup team championships.

Tennis players are not required to participate in these championships, but sometimes the country needs them to achieve certain targets. Participation in the Billie Jean King Cup and Davis Cup, at least a year before the Olympics, is also a requirement for those who want to appear in the four-yearly multi-sport event.

“There were definitely issues with the schedule. Plus, we had to move continents, adapt to the courts and the balls. It wasn’t easy. It was also hard to be consistent every week,” said Swiatek, who has yet to win a title since winning the French Open in June 2024.

When they cannot fulfill their obligation to participate in a tournament, according to the rules regarding “Commitment Players”, the world’s top tennis players can lose points.

“A lot of people say that I don’t need to play so many tournaments. In fact, there are a lot of mandatory tournaments that I can’t prepare for because of the tight schedule. We don’t even have much time to rest at the end of the year because the first tournament of the new season starts on December 29. I think the season is too long,” Swiatek told Sports Illustrated.

Swiatek could be seen as making a lame excuse for her loss, but her opinion on the tight tournament schedule is undeniable.

Two mandatory tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami, held consecutively for a month, March 5-16 and then March 18-30 in 2025. Both are combined men's and women's tournaments at the ATP Masters 1000 and WTA 1000 levels. The WTA 1000 Doha and Dubai are also held two consecutive weeks in February.

The clay court season is also a busy one. Five tournaments are held in five weeks leading up to the climax, the French Open Grand Slam, from May 25-June 8. Two of the five tournaments are held in consecutive weeks and are ATP Masters 1000 level, namely in Madrid and Rome.

For players who often reach the final rounds, at least the quarterfinals, playing from one tournament to another every week while moving from country to country is draining and mentally draining. So, at some point, they find it difficult to maintain themselves in the top level competition as happened in the first two months of the 2025 season. As the tournaments change every week, so do the champions.