The WTA Tour tennis season concludes with a thrilling clash of styles set for 2026

Welcome back to the Monday Tennis Briefing, where The Athletic will explain the stories behind the stories from the past week on court.

This week, the WTA Tour season concluded, a men’s player made a mark for his country and a doubles star brought up yet another record.

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What does 2026 hold on the WTA Tour?

Elena Rybakina’s WTA Tour Finals win Sunday ensured that five different players won the five biggest women’s tennis titles of 2025. It also pointed to what should be an intriguing contrast of styles on the women’s side next year.

Rybakina is one of the purest ballstrikers on the tour, whose all-or-nothing game can veer from erratic to unplayable in the space of a few games. If she can become a factor again at the sharp end of Slams, then we should get some fascinating high-stakes matches in 2026.

Amanda Anisimova, who reached her first two Grand Slam finals this year, is a point-and-shoot hitter, and her rise this year means there will be another top player who can take the racket out of anyone’s hand on her day.

Including Iga Świątek, who is trying to move away from the all-out attack style ingrained in her by former coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, and back toward the more counterpunching style of play, built on elite footwork, with Wim Fissette. Those two competing impulses sometimes clashed in her losses this year, and she was defeated by both Rybakina and Anisimova last week despite winning the first set. Her match against Anisimova was particularly entertaining, while her three-set defeat of Rybakina at Roland Garros in June was one of the matches of the year.

Then there’s Coco Gauff, whose incredible retrieval and defensive skills make up for her relative lack of firepower compared to Rybakina and Anisimova. Her serve and forehand remain prone to breaking down, but even this year Gauff has shown she can dig in and win the biggest matches. Her French Open final defeat of one of the biggest hitters of all, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, was the salient example.

That match, although error-strewn and a hard watch because of the windy conditions, showed the value of the contrast of styles. Gauff toughing it out mentally and gradually driving her opponent to distraction.

Tennis thrives on contrasting styles, and women’s tennis appears to have a very healthy dose right now.

— Charlie Eccleshare

How did a world No. 222 make a statement for his country?

While many players are done for the season, for others, the final week offers the chance of a breakthrough. Like Vitaliy Sachko, the world No. 222, who won his first ATP Tour-level match as a lucky loser at the Moselle Open in Metz, France.

Sachko made it to the semifinals, where he lost to Learner Tien of the U.S., but his run was about more than an unfancied player winning a few matches. Sachko’s first-round win over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, the huge-serving home favourite, was also the first time a Ukrainian man had won an ATP Tour match since 2021. By reaching the last four, Sachko became the first man from the country to reach an ATP Tour semifinal since 2017.

Along the way, Sachko, an understated 28-year-old, also took out the mercurial world No. 13 Alexander Bublik. Then he finished his quarterfinal on-court interview, after beating France’s Clement Tabur (who had beaten Sachko in qualifying), by saying “slava Ukraini,” “glory to Ukraine.” Like so many Ukrainians not in the country, he is consumed by thoughts of family members still there. Sachko was raised in and lives in the Czech Republic, but has many relatives still living in Ukraine, which has been at war with Russia since Vladimir Putin’s invasion in February 2022.

Many promising male athletes have joined the army, including current and former tennis players, and funds previously allocated for sport have had to be diverted away for the sake of national security. Like his WTA Tour compatriots, Elina Svitolina, Marta Kostyuk, Dayana Yastremska and more, Sachko has kept trying to best represent his country as the war continues.

Sachko’s run in Metz takes him back into the world’s top 200, which means an automatic place in qualifying for the Grand Slams and biggest tour events. With finesse to go with his power, Sachko will hope that his run acts as a springboard for his career, as well as a small source of joy for some of his compatriots.

— Charlie Eccleshare

Who matched an icon’s doubles record?

There are few better players to stand alongside in the WTA record books than Martina Navratilova, especially for a Czech player. And so Kateřina Siniaková’s fifth year-end as world No. 1 in doubles, matching the achievement of the great Navratilova, has particular resonance.

Siniaková was awarded the year-end No. 1 trophy during the WTA Tour Finals, where she reached the semifinals with Taylor Townsend of the U.S. Siniaková earned the ranking this year in part by winning the Australian Open and reaching the U.S. Open final, both with Townsend. This year’s top position follows year-end No. 1 spots in 2018 (when she jointly ranked No. 1 with compatriot Barbora Krejčíková), 2021, 2022, and 2024.

Siniaková remains an accomplished singles player, ranked No. 49 and a recent quarterfinalist at the Wuhan Open, but it’s in doubles where she continues to dominate. She has spoken previously of the lack of profile the discipline has, saying in an interview last year with Tennis Majors that “I’ve achieved a lot in doubles, but no one cares,” but within the sport, she is hugely respected.

So much so, and with so many accolades, that a comparison with Navratilova doesn’t feel remotely fanciful.

— Charlie Eccleshare

What beckons for two contrasting, rising stars in 2026?

At last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, João Fonseca of Brazil met Learner Tien of the U.S. On the face of it, a clash of bombast against guile; in reality, though Fonseca’s weight of shot ultimately triumphed, a showcase of two very multi-faceted talents. Tien can rip his forehand when he needs pace. Fonseca can absorb and redirect with his backhand when he needs patience.

Fonseca, now 19, won the title. He won another one last week, at the Swiss Indoors Basel, to secure a top-30 finish in his first full ATP Tour season. This week, Tien, the beguiling 19-year-old lefty from California, did the same by winning his first ATP Tour title in Metz, France. He came from 5-1 down in a third-set tiebreak to beat another tactical lefty, Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6), ending a year that began with a statement result with another.

Tien was the world No. 121 when he beat Daniil Medvedev on his way to the fourth round of the Australian Open in January. That was his first of five wins over top-10 players this season. Now he’s got a first tour title, too.

“It was a big goal of mine to win my first tournament,” he told the ATP after the win. “To do it the last week of the season, it’s great.”

He should be handsomely rewarded for it. The win should earn him a seed at his second Australian Open this coming January, alongside Fonseca.

— Matt Futterman

🏆 The winners of the week

🎾 ATP:

🏆 Novak Djokovic (1) def. Lorenzo Musetti (2) 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 to win the Hellenic Championship (250) in Athens. It is his 101st career title.

🏆 Learner Tien def. Cameron Norrie (7) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(6) to win the Moselle Open (250) in Metz, France. It is his first ATP Tour title.

🎾 WTA:

🏆 Elena Rybakina (6) def. Aryna Sabalenka (1) 6-3, 7-6(0) to win the WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It is her biggest title since Wimbledon 2022.

📈📉 On the rise / Down the line

📈 Elena Rybakina moves up one place from No. 6 to No. 5 after her WTA Tour Finals win.

📈 Learner Tien ascends 10 spots from No. 38 to No. 28 after his title run in Metz, France.

📈 Simona Waltert rises into the top 90 for the first time after going up seven spots from No. 93 to No. 86.

📉 Casper Ruud leaves the top 10, dropping two places from No. 10 to No. 12.

📉 Jessica Pegula drops one place from No. 5 to No. 6.

📉 Hamad Medjedovic tumbles 18 spots from No. 65 to No. 83.

📅 Coming up

🎾 ATP

📍Turin, Italy: ATP Tour Finals featuring Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton.

📺 UK: Sky Sports; U.S.: Tennis Channel 💻 Tennis TV

Tell us what you noticed this week in the comments below.

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