The curtain-closer for the women’s tennis season is upon us, so our team has put their expert heads together to come up with huge predictions for the WTA Finals 2025.
All roads have led to this. It’s been a thrilling year; from the Australian Open way back in January where Madison Keys picked up her first majors title by defeating Aryna Sabalenka, through to the US Open just two months ago, where Sabalenka finally came out on top to assert her dominance on the WTA Tour.
Being at the top of the leaderboard counts for very little once the WTA Finals begin, though, and Sabalenka will have to emerge victorious over seven of the world’s best this week if she is to truly be recognised as the top tennis player in 2025.
Here, the team at The Tennis Gazette offer up their thoughts on who will win the WTA Finals, how the American players will fare, and what match-ups they’re most keen to see play out.
WTA Finals 2025 predictions
Overall winner
Matthew Johns: I have got a feeling that Amanda Anisimova could win the WTA Finals this year. It has been a huge breakthrough year for the American, and she is likely to be coming in fresher than a lot of her rivals as she chose to skip the Wuhan Open. After finishing as runner-up at both Wimbledon and the US Open, it feels like it could be Anisimova’s turn to go all the way.
George Patten: It may seem like the obvious pick, but Aryna Sabalenka will be tough to beat in Saudi Arabia. The Belarusian has performed well at the event over recent years, and 2025 might well be the year she finally gets over the line.
Lee Clarke: I’m going for Amanda Anisimova. She should be well rested and is one player in the main draw who has recent wins over the top three players in the WTA rankings.
Top US player
Matthew Johns: Although I don’t think she will be able to defend her title, I don’t see Coco Gauff not turning up at all. She knows what it takes to play well at this tournament and is likely to have gained a lot of confidence from winning the title in Wuhan. I think Gauff will advance from her group, but I am not sure if she will go any further than the semi-finals.
George Patten: Amanda Anisimova has taken her game to another level in 2025, reaching two Grand Slam finals and winning two WTA 1000 titles. Making her debut at the tour finals, don’t be surprised to see the hard-hitting American make it out of her group.
Lee Clarke: I can probably see Coco Gauff being the top-performing US player, to be honest, although Jessica Pegula might have a good run given she did relatively well on the Asian swing.
- READ MORE: Rennae Stubbs predicts what will happen to Coco Gauff at the WTA Finals as the groups are announced
Who will struggle?
Matthew Johns: While I believe that both Anisimova and Gauff will perform well at the WTA Finals this year, there is one American player who I think could be vulnerable. Madison Keys has not played since the US Open, where she suffered a shock first round loss, and I think she could potentially be rusty coming into the final tournament of the year.
George Patten: Elena Rybakina deserves real credit for the way she reeled Mirra Andreeva in to qualify for the tournament, but the effort she exerted in doing so could hurt her in Riyadh. It’s unclear whether her withdrawal in Tokyo was just a precaution or if there is a real issue there. Competing in such a strong field, if Rybakina is anything below 100%, she will struggle to advance to the semis.
Lee Clarke: Madison Keys will struggle. She has hardly played, in fairness and it is going to take a seriously bad day at the office for a number of players if she’s going to cause a stir in Riyadh.
Most exciting match-up
Matthew Johns: The two match-ups I would most like to see are already confirmed to be happening, as Anisimova is guaranteed to play both Keys and Elena Rybakina for the first time in her career. I would also like to see Gauff play Rybakina, as they have not faced one another in a match since the 2022 Canadian Open.
George Patten: We’ve remarkably only seen world number one Aryna Sabalenka and world number two Iga Swiatek face off once in 2025. With the season coming to an end, what better way to wrap up the year than to see the two best players in women’s tennis battle it out at the WTA Finals?
Lee Clarke: After a 58-minute demolition job in China, it would be great to see Anisimova and Gauff take on one another all over again, with American fans likely to relish that clash.
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