2025 WTA Top 10 Predictions

Thoughts on Sabalenka, Gauff and the WTA Tour

It’s the most wistful time of the year for tennis fans– that moment we look ahead to the 2025 WTA Top 10 predictions. As a gift to you, I do something almost nobody else does: I keep score on myself. For pro tennis in 2024, I made some excellent calls and some truly bad calls. Before we unveil what I see in store for 2025, let’s see how I did this past year.

WTA Predictions: What I Got Correct

I picked the WTA Top 3 players in the world correctly– just not in the right order. I’m proud of myself for that. I projected Coco Gauff as year-end #1, and she ended #3. Given that so many people have been down on Gauff’s forehand and double faults, this was a strong finish for the American and a half-feather in my sun hat.

I had Swiatek #2. Nailed that. What I didn’t see coming: The ascending dominance of Aryna Sabalenka. The Belarusian power player brings the heat and the joy. After her emotionally tumultuous month of March, “Sabs train” proved her mental game is second to none in this sport. (Jannik Sinner might be tied with her.) She tamed the double fault beast and ball-spraying all on her own– the greatest gift any player can give herself.

Jessica Pegula and Elena Rybakina remain in the Top 10– I was correct. Other players I picked to finish Top 10 were in the next 10, like Beatriz Haddad Maia, Jelena Ostapenko and Mirra Andreeva. Not too shabby.

Some of my other predictions were bang-on. Only one was complete swing-and-a-miss.

I said, “The WTA will do a deal with Saudi Arabia because it needs the money.” The WTA Finals were announced for Riyadh, as well as naming rights and other initiatives. Check.

“The tour will announce incremental new cooperative initiatives with the ATP, some of which will be a surprise.” Check, check, check. In addition to the joint expanded Masters 1000s, the tours will merge some key commercial interests. They also agreed on new rules for late night matches, tennis ball quality reviews and other odds and ends.

“Happy news: A former Grand Slam champion will get pregnant.” Big congrats to Petra Kvitova.

“Ashleigh Barty will consider a return to the WTA or take a run at golf– some sort of competitive outlet.” Incorrect. When am I going to start actually listening to Ash Barty? Retirement from tennis is clearly what she wants, full stop.

“We won’t see any first-time Grand Slam Champions– everyone who wins one this year will already have a trophy in the case.” Ding, ding, ding! Somebody give me a prize.

What I Got Wrong

The main misses involved the leap of established players into the upper echelons of the WTA. Namely Jasmine Paolini and Qinwen Zheng. These are two elite players with rainbows and pots of gold in their immediate futures. I give myself a pass on #10 Barbora Krejcikova because I had correctly predicted the year prior that she’d reemerge in singles. I was only off by a matter of months.

Now to the good stuff…

2025 WTA Top 10 Predictions

1. Aryna Sabalenka
2. Coco Gauff
3. Jasmine Paolini
4. Iga Swiatek
5. Karolina Muchova
6. Emma Navarro
7. Qinwen Zheng
8. Barbora Krejcikova
9. Jessica Pegula
10. Elena Rybakina

If Sabalenka can get through this year with 2 Grand Slam Titles, anything is possible for her. Clay will still be her big challenge, but serve-friendly venues like Madrid are always accessible for Aryna. She’s a tough player with the mindset to match.

I think Gauff will make favorable changes with her new coach Matt Daly, who specializes in grips. I can envision something along the lines of a choking-down on the serve grip to quell double faults. The forehand already looks improved.

Paolini has the all-court, all-surface game that will stand the test of time. I could see her winning a Slam in 2025.

Iga is still Iga, but we might see some slippage as she struggles to adapt to new forces in the sport. Her serve is better but still not what it could be. Clay remains her surface, and good luck beating her at Roland Garros.

Prediction: Muchova will stay healthy and captivate the tennis world with her multifaceted game. I desperately want Roger Federer as her supercoach, but unfortunately I cannot go as far as to predict that. Roger that, please.

American Emma Navarro is a steely competitor with a defensive style similar to Alex De Minaur and the ability to strike like Martina Navratilova. Upside for days.

Zheng is a beautiful server and ball-striker. I see ranking slippage only because I think her chosen persona and the battles within will become more complicated. The geopolitics involving China are never easy for a world-class athlete.

One of my favorite personalities, Krejcikova, with a solid forehand and mental game to match, should gain momentum. When you watch Barbora play, keep an eye on how she returns against the world’s best servers. It’s top-notch.

I never know what to do with Pegula, but one senses she’ll be there. I suspect she hit a period of exhaustion this past season, but she never let on. She’s tenacious.

Elena Rybakina has been through the fire and is still standing. I predict up-and-down moments as she continues to come to terms with her health issues– physical and mental– of the past few years. When she’s on, there’s nobody better.

Other predictions: Naomi Osaka will continue to impress in bursts, but it will be another uneven year. Which is absolutely fine. We fans will take the fireworks whenever they come. Likewise, Emma Raducanu will also show signs of brilliance, though inconsistently. I predict more coaching changes ahead in Emma’s camp– not exactly a bold stance by me. Mirra Andreeva will vie for and possibly win at least one Grand Slam. And finally, with more cash from the Saudis, the WTA will finally create a marketing campaign with some creativity and flair that hits the right tone.

Cheers to that, WTA fans.