To remain consistent at the top level in tennis is an incredibly difficult task.
The likes of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams have set the bar incredibly high with their lengthy careers, during which they rarely suffered prolonged dips in form.
A number of stars in today’s game are displaying a similar level of consistency to the four greats, such as Carlos Alcaraz, Aryna Sabalenka, and Jannik Sinner.
For the majority of players, though, their careers will be full of peaks and troughs, with both sometimes lasting months, or even years.
Three tennis stars who had previously been experiencing such troughs have since turned things around this season.
1. Felix Auger-Aliassime
While Felix Auger-Aliassime was by no means drastically underperforming before his 2025 campaign, he had not been able to emulate his 2022 breakthrough year in 2023 and 2024.
This season, however, the Canadian has reached the heights once promised three years ago when he burst onto the scene.
Where do you think Felix Auger-Aliassime will finish the year ranked next year?
Auger-Aliassime clinched his first title since 2023 at the Adelaide International in January, and made finals in Montpellier and Dubai during February, but his form truly catapulted in September.
Following a solid run in Cincinnati, the 25-year-old recorded his joint-best Grand Slam finish at the US Open by advancing to the semifinals.
On his preferred surface of indoor hard court in October, Auger-Aliassime won the European Open in Brussels to hoist his third trophy of the season, and followed it up with a finals run at the Paris Masters, which ultimately saw him qualify for the ATP Finals.
Now ranked fifth in the world, Auger-Aliassime is back on track to reach his full potential, and is one of the favourites to close the gap on Sinner and Alcaraz.
2. Naomi Osaka
After returning from her year-long hiatus at the beginning of 2024, Naomi Osaka, understandably, was not operating at her old Grand Slam-winning level.
Outside of a quarterfinal finish at the Qatar Open that year, the four-time Grand Slam champion struggled to go deep at the biggest tournaments.
The poor results carried into the first few months of 2025, and many were beginning to wonder whether Osaka would ever return to title-form again.
In April, the Japanese star swallowed her pride and played at a tournament below WTA Tour-level in Saint-Malo, where she would go on to claim her first title since winning the 2021 Australian Open.
Later on in the season, Osaka parted ways with head coach Patrick Mouratoglou and appointed Tomasz Wiktorowski, with whom she reached the final of the Canadian Open and the semifinals of the US Open, her best Grand Slam result in over four years.
The former world number one displayed a much-improved level at Flushing Meadows, and has looked to be back to her best under the wing of Wiktorowski.
3. Daniil Medvedev
Like Osaka, Daniil Medvedev benefited greatly from a switch-up in his coaching team, which he ultimately made after crashing out in the first round of the US Open.
Following his fourth consecutive early exit at a Grand Slam in New York, Medvedev split with Gilles Cervara, who had previously guided him to the 2021 US Open title.
The Russian hired Thomas Johansson, and with the Swede in his corner, he enjoyed immediate improvement results-wise.
During the Asian swing, Medvedev reached back-to-back semifinal finishes at the China Open and the Shanghai Masters before ending his 882-day title drought at the Almaty Open.
- Hangzhou Open – Quarterfinals
- China Open – Semifinals
- Shanghai Masters – Semifinals
- Almaty Open – Champion
Though the 29-year-old will hope to make further improvements in order to return to the top ten in 2026, he has proven that there is still plenty left in the tank.
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