The 2025 tennis season has officially come to a conclusion, with the WTA and ATP Finals wrapping up in November. Read more for a recap of the season-ending tournaments as the calendar turns to 2026.

Rybakina Caps Late Surge With Maiden WTA Finals Title

Heading into November, Elena Rybakina was on the outside of qualifying for the WTA Finals Riyadh and hopefully looking in. The 2023 BNP Paribas Open Champion entered 2025 as the WTA World No. 6, but fell outside of the Top Ten for much of the season. However, a late-season push and a 500-level title in Ningbo gave her the points to make a last-second push into the WTA Finals, where she showed no signs of stopping her momentum.

In the round robin phase, Rybakina emerged from the Serena Williams group undefeated, taking down two-time Major finalist Amanda Anisimova, World No. 2 Iga Swiatek, and Ekaterina Alexandrova, dropping only one set across her three matches. She advanced to face Jessica Pegula in the semifinals, and after facing a set deficit, responded strongly for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.

In the final, Rybakina faced year-long World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a rematch of her 2023 BNP Paribas Open title bout. Rybakina struck first with a break to go up 4-2 over the Sabalenka, holding her heavy serve to take the first set. Rybakina was applying pressure once again in the second, but the reigning US Open champion saved four break points to remain all square. Sabalenka seemed to be the safe pick entering the tiebreak, winning a historic 22 of them this year. Rybakina dominated, however, winning 7-0 to claim her maiden WTA Finals title.

The 26-year old finishes the year off with the No. 5 ranking, becoming the first player representing an Asian country (Kazakhstan) to win the year-end event.

Sinner Secures Second Consecutive ATP Finals Victory

The ATP Tour couldn’t have seen a more fitting finale to the 2025 campaign than another duel between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The rising superstars faced off in five championship matches heading into Turin, including consecutive Grand Slams at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open. With Sinner just behind Alcaraz in the rankings, a successful ATP Finals title defense would help keep him in arms reach of the World No. 1 heading into 2026.

Sinner cruised through group play, stringing together victories over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev without dropping a set. He then eliminated Alex De Minaur 7-5, 6-2 in a semifinal that lasted just under two hours, advancing to face Alcaraz in their 16th career confrontation.

The rivals showcased their typical speed and precision to open the first set at the Inalpi Arena, remaining level until Alcaraz found a break point opportunity to take the set. With the pressure on his second serve, Sinner fizzed a serve past Alcaraz and won the next two points to push the set to a tiebreak. With the home crowd behind him, Sinner seized the tiebreak 6-4. Alcaraz responded with a break early in the second set, but once again the Italian showed his resilience, sending his adversary scampering after a delicate dropshot to restore the order at 3-3. The set remained on level terms until Alcaraz served at 5-6, when Alcaraz faced match point. The Spaniard watched a backhand sail wide, sending Sinner to the floor as Turin shot to its feet.

Once again, this edition of their rivalry showcased what’s to come from the faces of men’s tennis, as they continue to learn from each other and entertain the sports world with their dominant displays.