Andy Murray’s former coach picks the four ATP players who he thinks are going to have brilliant 2025 seasons

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The 2025 season on the ATP Tour is now just a few short weeks away, as fans prepare for another year of thrilling action.

2024 was a great year for men’s tennis, as we saw two stars emerge as the true heirs to the ‘big three’s’ throne.

Sinner won the US Open this September, having won the Australian Open in January, before adding the ATP Finals to his collection as he finished the year as world number one.

Alcaraz won Wimbledon for the second time in as many years, having won a maiden French Open title just a few months prior.

Whilst the youngsters took the tour by storm, it was one of the sport’s greats that struggled at times in 2024.

Djokovic won the Olympic title, taking down Alcaraz in the final, but failed to win a Grand Slam for the first time since 2017.

After a tough year, the Serb felt it was necessary to make a big change, and he recently made headlines as Andy Murray joined Djokovic’s coaching team.

A big move that Murray’s former coach thinks will prove successful.

Andy Murray’s former coach Daniel Vallverdu thinks Novak Djokovic will have an ‘extraordinary’ season in 2025

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of the Next Gen ATP Finals, where Daniel Vallverdu is co-organizing tournament director, he revealed his thoughts on Murray and Djokovic’s new partnership.

“I would say excellent,” he said.

“For me it will be a beautiful collaboration between the two.

“The Serbian will draw a lot of inspiration from him, he will find even more motivation in wanting to compete against the younger ones; it will be an incredible story for everyone.”

The Venezuelan coach was then asked who he thinks will have a big year in 2025.

“I usually don’t answer this question, but I can say that there are at least three names among the big names who could come back very strong on the circuit starting in 2025,” said Vallverdu.

“Above all Novak Djokovic: for me, he will play an extraordinary season, and never mind if he is not young.

“Then [Alexander] Zverev, [Daniil] Medvedev, and [Taylor] Fritz: they will be stimulated by the strength of two such winning youngsters [Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz], they will want to do everything to get on their level.”

Vallverdu also revealed the young player that he thinks could be in store for a strong 2025 season.

“As for the immediate future, I’m betting on Holger Rune,” he said.

“He has the same shots and resources as Jannik [Sinner] and Carlos [Alcaraz].

“He can become very strong and start grinding out results in the tournaments that matter.”

Can Holger Rune be as good as Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz?

Alcaraz and Sinner have emerged as the two top talents in men’s tennis this year, but there was a time not too long ago where a certain Dane was expected to be right there with them.

In 2022 Rune won his maiden Masters 1000 title at the Paris Masters, winning a remarkable five consecutive matches against top ten opponents.

Having beaten Alcaraz and Djokovic in the same week, it seemed as if Rune was destined to reach the very top.

It looked as if he might, as the Dane reached a career-high of fourth in the world in 2023, after making two further Masters 1000 finals in Monte-Carlo and Rome.

He stook a step back in 2024, however, as he failed to make it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam and was unable to pick up an ATP title.

There is still potential for Rune to push forward and contend with the likes of Sinner and Alcaraz, as he proved in Bercy two years ago, and if Vallverdu is right we could see it happen in the new year.

Rune will return to action at the Brisbane International which begins on January 30.