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Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys both agree on who is the most improved player on the WTA Tour in 2025

Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
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Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys believe there is only one WTA player who deserves this award.

Pegula and Keys both competed at the WTA Finals, where they officially played the final tournament of their respective 2025 seasons.

Both players have found success this year, particularly for Keys, who won the Australian Open title back in January.

As they now take some time away from tennis, both Pegula and Keys have reflected on the 2025 season.

Victoria Mboko celebrates with the Canadian Open title after beating Naomi Osaka in the final
Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys name Victoria Mboko as the most improved WTA player in 2025

With it being the end of the season, it now means that it is award season on both the ATP and WTA Tours.

This was discussed on The Player’s Box podcast, with Pegula and Keys naming the players they think deserve the honour of both real WTA awards and categories they created themselves.

For the category of the Most Improved Player, Pegula and Keys both agreed that Canadian Victoria Mboko was deserving of the honour.

Mboko began the season ranked outside the top 300, but has climbed all the way to finish the year as the world number 18.

The Canadian teenager has been able to do this after producing consistent results on the ITF Tour, before Mboko had an incredible run to win the Canadian Open, as well as winning her second WTA title in Hong Kong.

Pegula and Keys then went on to praise their compatriot and French Open champion Coco Gauff, who they named as the most mentally tough and the player most likely to practice after winning a match.

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Who has been nominated for the Most Improved Player of the Year Award instead of Victoria Mboko?

Although Pegula and Keys were both clear that Mboko should be named the Most Improved Player, she has not actually been nominated for the award.

Instead, the shortlist for the Most Improved Player of the Year Award consists of Clara Tauson, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Linda Noskova, Mirra Andreeva and Amanda Anisimova.

However, Mboko has not been left off the nomination list completely, as she has been shortlisted for the Newcomer of the Year Award.

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This is not the only situation where a player has surprisingly been left off a list, with Naomi Osaka also not being shortlisted for a particular award.

It has also happened on the ATP Tour, with there being a big reaction to Learner Tien not being nominated for an award.

The winners of the WTA awards will be announced in the week beginning December 15.