Sam Stosur picks the WTA player who she is predicting will be the ‘breakout’ star of 2025 and crack the top 10

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The 2024 WTA Tour season was dominated by the exciting battle between Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, and that may be the case once more in 2025.

Sabalenka ended the year ranked in first place, having surpassed Swiatek before the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

Belarusian world number one Sabalenka won the Australian Open and US Open, with the Pole winning the French Open.

But there were also plenty of other intriguing stories to have played out during the season, with Coco Gauff winning the WTA Finals.

Jasmine Paolini and Emma Navarro meanwhile enjoyed fantastic breakout seasons, with both now ranked in the top 10.

Sam Stosur makes Mirra Andreeva prediction for 2025

Navarro won the WTA most improved award, with Australian Grand Slam champion Sam Stosur now predicting a breakout 2025 for another rising star in Mirra Andreeva.

“I know we have all heard of Mirra Andreeva already but she hasn’t cracked the top 10 yet,” Stosur said on The Tennis podcast.

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“She has gone relatively deep in some slams but I think 2025 could be the year that we see her take that next step to the next level of a Grand Slam, hit the top 10 and then really see her solidify herself as one of the top players on the women’s tour.”

Mirra Andreeva equals Martina Hingis record at French Open

Andreeva won her first WTA Tour title in 2024 in Romania, with the Russian also reaching a career-high ranking of 16.

She also impressed at the Cincinnati Open, beating Navarro and Paolini before a quarter-final loss to Swiatek.

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But Andreeva undoubtedly saved her best for the French Open, knocking out second seed Sabalenka before a semi-final loss to Paolini.

Ranked 38th at the time, the 17-year-old became the youngest Grand Slam semi-finalist since Martina Hingis at the 1997 US Open.

Also left impressed by Andreeva was another Grand Slam champion in Todd Woodbridge, who identified what is missing in the Russian’s game.

“I would say physicality, strength,” said Woodbridge. “But she’s a young teenager so she will get stronger and that’s going to give her more weight of shot. The skillset is really there, I think.”