Eight Queens, One Crown: A Preview to the 2025 WTA Finals in Riyadh
The tennis season is nearing its end and the WTA Finals stage is set in Riyadh to close things out. After ten months of globe-trotting—from Melbourne's scorching hard courts to Paris's red clay, from Wimbledon's pristine grass to New York's electric energy—the 2025 WTA season has delivered us to this moment. Eight players. One week. Everything on the line.
The WTA Finals represents the culmination of a year's worth of blood, sweat, and baseline battles. These aren't just the best players of 2025—they're the ones who not only survived, they rose to the occasion of the grueling marathon that is the professional tennis calendar.
A Look at the Final Eight
Let's start with the obvious: Aryna Sabalenka enters as the heavy favorite, and rightfully so. The world No. 1 has been a model of consistency all season, collecting her fourth Grand Slam title at the US Open and reaching three major finals. Her Miami triumph in March—in the city she calls home—showed her dominance on hard courts, the surface that will decide this championship. Sabalenka has maintained the #1 spot all season, if there’s a favorite, she’s gotta be at the top of the list.
But don't sleep on Iga Swiatek. The world No. 2 delivered over the summer on the grass courts after years of struggling on the slick stuff. Swiatek lifted the Wimbledon trophy, proving she’s a specialist on all surfaces. Her 6-0, 6-0 takedown of Amanda Anisimova in the final was one of the most dominant performances we've seen at a major in years.
Coco Gauff arrives in Riyadh with a Roland Garros triumph under her belt in 2025. At just 21, she's already a two-time Slam champion with a perfect 9-0 record in WTA hard-court finals. Her recent Wuhan title over Jessica Pegula proves she's peaking at exactly the right time. She’s the defending champion and if she’s firing on all cylinders, she could repeat as champion this year.
Amanda Anisimova is the tournament's newest face and perhaps its most intriguing storyline. After taking time away from the tour and dropping outside the Top 400, the American has authored one of the year's most inspiring comebacks of 2025. She won Doha, reached back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open, and showed incredible resilience by bouncing back from that Wimbledon final beatdown to upset Swiatek at Flushing Meadows. She also bookended her season with a second 1000 title in Beijing. Anisimova is dangerous, confident, and is on a mission.
Jessica Pegula brings consistency, clutch performances and three titles into Riyadh this year. The American has battled the game's elite all year, including a gut-wrenching three-set loss to Sabalenka in the US Open semifinals—and sweet revenge against the same opponent in Wuhan, ending the Belarusian's 20-match winning streak. Pegula is steady, rested, and could quietly navigate her way through this tournament.
Elena Rybakina slid into the field with a late-season surge, winning six straight matches before Tokyo. When she’s serving big and her power game is clicking, she's virtually unplayable. The question is whether she can maintain her level and fitness to get her through the tournament. A focused, healthy Rybakina is dangerous in any draw.
Jasmine Paolini has quietly assembled another complete year after a breakout season in 2024. Paolini captured a WTA 1000 title in Rome—a history-making moment on home soil—and reached the Cincinnati final. Her 2025 success extends beyond Rome however: Paolini claimed the French Open doubles championship and led Italy's charge in successfully defending their Billie Jean King Cup title. Paolini has a lot of miles on court this year, but she showed up week after week, tournament after tournament, delivered when her team and country needed her most.
Then there's the fairytale that opened this season: Madison Keys. At age 30, Keys finally captured the Grand Slam title that had eluded her for so long. Her Australian Open triumph—defeating none other than Sabalenka in the final—came in her 46th major appearance, a full decade after she first reached the semifinals in Melbourne. It was a victory for persistence, for believing when others might have given up. Keys proved that in tennis, timing is everything, and sometimes your moment arrives when you least expect it.
The Format
The round-robin format adds delicious complexity. Split into the Stefanie Graf Group (Sabalenka, Gauff, Pegula, Paolini) and the Serena Williams Group (Swiatek, Anisimova, Rybakina, Keys), every match matters. With recent head-to-head battles still fresh—Gauff and Paolini split six meetings this year alone—group play promises fireworks before we even reach the semifinals.
The Verdict
On paper, many would expect Sabalenka to live up to her top billing as the number one player in the world. She's been consistent all year and hard courts are her playground. But the beautiful truth about women's tennis in 2025: any of these eight champions can win this thing.
Swiatek's versatility, Gauff's momentum, Anisimova's fearlessness, or even a veteran resurgence from Keys—this field is loaded with potential plot twists and fireworks. The format rewards not just talent but stamina, strategy, and the ability to handle pressure on the biggest stage.
The 2025 season has epitomized competitive balance, with four different Grand Slam winners, multiple 1000 winners and breakthrough performances from teenagers and seasoned pros alike all season. It's only fitting that it ends with a field this deep, this talented, and this hungry.
Eight queens enter the ring in Riyadh. Only one will leave with the crown. Let the battle begin.
