The 2025 season is in the books, and it was one for the ages. In a remarkable display of parity and depth, five different players won the four majors and the WTA Finals title.

The swings all told their own unique stories, from the hard courts to the clay to the grass and back to the hard courts, culminating with a memorable week in Riyadh.

With the offseason officially underway, we’re looking back at the top moments, best matches, best tournaments and more from the year that was. 

WTA year in review: What was the most memorable moment of 2025?

Today we’re discussing the biggest surprises of the 2025 season, and there was no shortage of options. We saw plenty of new faces, plenty of breakthrough titles and plenty of history. This is what stood out above the rest.

Brad Kallet: I could certainly make a case for the Alexandra Ealas and Victoria Mbokos of the world, but I’ll go with Amanda Anisimova’s ascension to the very upper echelon of the Hologic WTA Tour. The American started the year ranked No. 36, and 10 months later she was in the Top 5. In between she won her first two WTA 1000 titles, reached her first two Grand Slam finals and qualified for her first-ever WTA Finals. Her ability was never in question, but few expected her to be in the conversation with names like Swiatek, Gauff and Sabalenka at year’s end.

It was the season of her career, and many (myself included) will expect her to win a major in 2026.

Anisimova tops Ostapenko in Doha to win first career WTA 1000 title

Alex Macpherson: Has 2025 been the most exciting year for collective breakthroughs in recent memory? Very possibly. Throughout the season, a wave of brilliant young talents proved that minimal tour experience was no barrier to delivering big results. There was Mboko, ranked No. 350 at the end of 2024 and No. 18 at the end of 2025 after winning Montreal in her seventh tour-level main draw.

Iva Jovic, 17, won Guadalajara in her 10th main draw; Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 19, won Sao Paulo in her third main draw; Tereza Valentova, 18, was the Osaka runner-up in her fourth main draw; Lilli Tagger, 17, made the Jiujiang final on her WTA debut.

Lois Boisson (in her second main draw!) and Eala left a trail of Top 10 upsets in their wake en route to starburst semifinal runs at Roland Garros and Miami, respectively. Then there was Janice Tjen, unranked 18 months ago and already the Chennai champion and Sao Paulo runner-up in just four tour-level main draws played. All of these player have exciting, dynamic games and compelling narratives in spades. Call this one an eight-way tie.

Jovic captures Guadalajara crown, set to break Top 50

Greg Garber: I would argue that Mboko (she might not really be of this world) is the runaway choice here. While Anisimova and all the other elite players gathered in Melbourne for the season’s first Grand Slam, Mboko was in Martinique, in the Caribbean, at an obscure W35. She won the title there and her ranking of No. 333 began its incredible rise. The Canadian teenager reached a WTA 125 final in Parma, but completely changed the narrative by winning the WTA 1000 in Montreal. After winning the title in Hong Kong, she cracked the Top 20 (No. 18) to finish her season with a flourish.

Champions Reel: How Victoria Mboko won Montreal 2025

Noah Poser: There are so many good options to choose from here, as this was the year of the teens: Mboko, Maya Joint, Jovic and Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah all won titles. But the one individual who hasn’t gotten nearly enough attention for her body of work this year is Tjen. The 23-year-old Indonesian and former University of Oregon and Pepperdine University star burst onto the scene this year, winning at every single level she played at. She won six ITF singles titles and four more ITF doubles titles.

Then, in October alone, she won WTA 125 titles in singles and doubles and her first career WTA Tour singles title in Chennai. (She swept the singles and doubles titles there, a couple weeks after winning her first career WTA doubles title in Guangzhou.) In total, Tjen finished the year with 77 wins across all levels — compared to just 15 losses — and finished the year with a career-high ranking of No. 53 after starting the year outside the top 400.

Cole Bambini: Ever since her first WTA Tour-level match in 2022, Mirra Andreeva has trajected upward, and 2025 was a big leap for the 18-year-old. At 17 she won the title in Dubai, becoming the youngest WTA 1000 champion ever, and followed it up with another WTA 1000 title in Indian Wells. In California she defeated Iga Swiatek in the semis and Aryna Sabalenka in the final. She cracked the Top 10 for the first time in her career, becoming the youngest to do so since Nicole Vaidisova in 2007 – the year Andreeva was born. 

Matt Wilansky: This one’s a layup. Ranked No. 333 in January, Mboko ended her summer running the show in her home city. An 18-year-old wild card at the time, she beat Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina — all former Grand Slam winners — and then outlasted Naomi Osaka, also a Slam champ, in a three-set Montreal final that turned IGA Stadium into a frenzy. And last month, all grown up at 19 years old, Mboko won Hong Kong, defeating Cristina Bucsa in the longest final of the year (2 hours and 49 minutes). Two titles, wins over four Slam champs, 60 wins and a Top 20 finish — not bad for someone who ended last year losing ITF matches in Japan.  

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