4 bold predictions for what will happen in tennis in 2025
By Lee Vowell
The 2025 tennis season is underway and the Australian Open is just a few weeks away. The month off for players likely does not feel long enough, but December probably seems like forever for tennis fans. No true tournaments happen, and the trickle of exhibitions is all we get.
The year begins with four different tournaments. All of which ends on Sunday, January 5. Players hoping to get off to a better start this year than last will know where they stand just a week into the season.
But what will happen throughout 2025? Here are some guesses. Maybe none of them will come true, but the first one would be special.
Bold predictions for tennis in 2025
Carlos Alcaraz will win all four Grand Slams
Alcaraz has already won four Grand Slams in still only 21 years old. He has not done overly well at the Australian Open, however. He reached the quarterfinals in 2024, but that was his best finish so far. For whatever reason, Alcaraz simply does not seem as prepared as he should be for each new season.
That will change in 2025. He will sweep through the Aussie Open, repeat easily at the French Open, defeat Ben Shelton in five sets at Wimbledon, and then, after losing the first two sets at the US Open, roars back to beat Daniil Medvedev to complete the calendar Slam. Alcaraz will falter at other tournaments, though, including the ATP Finals, and finish as the year-end No.2 behind Alexander Zverev.
Jannik Sinner will get suspended for six months
Sinner failed two drug tests in March at Indian Wells but was found innocent of any intentional wrongdoing by the International Tennis Integrity Agency and was not suspended. The World Anti-Doping Agency took umbrage with the ruling and has appealed the ITIA decision. The appeal will not be heard until sometime after February, though.
Sinner will be suspended for six months just ahead of the French Open putting a pall over the sport. By the time he is able to return, the season will be done.
Naomi Osaka will be the runner-up at the US Open
Osaka had an extremely inconsistent 2024, at times playing high-quality tennis, such as in her first-round loss to Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros, and at other times struggling as if she was new to the sport. Still, tennis fans know she can win majors and has four Grand Slam titles to her name. She will struggle a bit early in the season before finding her footing and winning a title or two.
At the US Open, though, she will play her best tennis in years and lose only two sets on her run to the final. In the final, she will lose in three sets to Coco Gauff.
Coco Gauff will finish the year at WTA No. 1
Gauff's poor showing in the summer of 2024 is going to help her later in 2025. She should be able to make deep runs at events and pick up a lot of points. Her run to the year-end top ranking will begin when she wins the French Open. She will make the quarterfinals at Wimbledon (which would be her best showing at the grass-court major), and then win the US Open for the second time.
Besides the successes at Grand Slams, she will also win in Canada and then the Cincinnati Open pushing her to the brink of No. 1 for the first time.