2025 ATP Season in Review
The 2025 ATP season saw the true emergence of tennis' newest dynasty at the top but still had plenty of intriguing supporting characters. In this piece, Tennis Warehouse looks back at some of the more memorable moments from a wild 2025 year on tour.
From one dynasty to another…
It must be frustrating to be a journeyman ATP pro these days. Without so much as a one year reprieve, the golden age of the "Big 3" was immediately succeeded by tennis’ latest dynasty, what many refer to as “Sincaraz,” carried of course by Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz. Over the last two years, only these two men have managed to win slams. Further, only four other men have even managed to make a slam final in the same period, that being Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz.
The dynamic duo traded slams over the year, with Sinner taking home the trophy in Melbourne and London, and Alcaraz triumphing in Paris and New York.
Maiden Masters 1000s
Much more interesting was the surprise number of first-time champions at the Masters 1000 level.
In Indian Wells, Jack Draper took home the crown after a stunning display over Alcaraz in the semifinals and a confident showing over Holger Rune in the finals. In Miami, Jakub Mensik went on the run of a lifetime to beat his idol Novak Djokovic in the finals, cementing him as one of the up-and-coming players to watch for years to come. Casper Ruud also finally made the leap at the 1000 level, taking home his biggest career title to date.
Later in the year during the hard-court swing, Ben Shelton etched his name into the history books for 2025, winning his maiden Masters 1000 in Toronto in a high-quality three-set tussle with Karen Khachanov.
In perhaps one of the most legendary and surprising runs ever in Masters 1000 history, Valentin Vacherot stunned the world in his title run in Shanghai, becoming the lowest-ranked man to win a Masters 1000, starting the tournament at 204 in the world.
There were plenty of other impressive first-time winners on the ATP circuit this year, including Brazil’s Joao Fonseca deep in enemy-territory at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires. Tomas Machac also had a breakthrough moment, winning the ATP 500 in Acapulco. Jenson Brooksby captured his first title in Houston at the US-clay court ATP 250, as did Flavio Cobolli at the ATP 250 in Bucharest, which he backed up with a win at the ATP 500 in Hamburg two months later. Elsewhere, Gabriel Diallo captured a maiden title at the ATP 250 in 's-Hertogenbosch and Learner Tien also cemented his breakout year with a title run in Metz at the hard-court ATP 250.
Looking ahead to 2026...
The big storyline for 2026 ATP-wise is both Sinner and Alcaraz are going for the career grand slam. Here's what makes it extra intriguing: The slam Alcaraz needs to win for a career slam is the one Sinner is going for a hat-trick at. Likewise, the slam Sinner needs to complete his career slam, Alcaraz is also the two-time defending champ. This makes the duopoly at the top even more interesting in terms of how they are often contesting these huge stakes directly between each other.
Will Sinner or Alcaraz complete the career slam? Will they contest a fourth consecutive slam final between them both? Does Djokovic have anything left to give or prove? We shall see.
