Sabalenka, Anisimova, Paolini and more: Vote for the best match of 2025
Editor’s note: As part of the 2025 WTA Fan Awards series, we’re inviting fans to vote on their favorite players, matches and moments from this season. All categories are open, so check wtatennis.com/awards to make your picks.
For Wednesday, we're asking you to vote on the best match of the year.
[3] Coco Gauff d. [7] Zheng Qinwen 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(4), Rome semifinals
The 2024 WTA Finals Riyadh title match between Coco Gauff and Zheng Qinwen had the frisson of a must-watch rivalry in the making, and their first meeting after that barnburner also went down to the wire. The second-longest match of the year at 3 hours and 32 minutes, it was a gruelling clay-court marathon in which both players sought to grind each other into the Foro Italico's dust. As in Riyadh, Gauff found her brick wall mode -- and some exquisite drop shots -- when she needed it to deny Zheng from 5-3 down in the third set once more.
[1] Aryna Sabalenka d. Elena Rybakina 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(6), Berlin quarterfinals
If Gauff and Zheng delivered an archetypal clay-court battle in Rome, the 11th edition of Aryna Sabalenka's rivalry with Elena Rybakina was the opposite: a boom-boom first-strike feast between two of the game's biggest hitters on the slick grass of Berlin. By the time they reached the third-set tiebreak, Sabalenka had already failed to serve out the win at 5-4, and Rybakina seemed to have all the momentum. Unleashing on return, she advanced to a 6-2 lead and held quadruple match point. Sabalenka responded with the fighting spirit that's helped keep her at World No. 1 all year with a run of six straight points. A dead net cord, a service winner, a one-two punch and a Rybakina forehand error saved all four match points against her; another service winner converted Sabalenka's her first. The pair would alternate wins in their four 2025 meetings, but one pattern still holds up -- Sabalenka has won all six of their three-setters.
[9] Mirra Andreeva d. [1] Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, Indian Wells final
Mirra Andreeva's run to the Indian Wells final underlined that the 17-year-old's upsets of Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina in Dubai two weeks previously were no flukes -- she reprised them both en route to her second straight WTA 1000 title match. Aryna Sabalenka was a different matter: Andreeva had scored one win in their rivalry, over a visibly ailing Sabalenka at Roland Garros 2024, but had mustered just 17 games across their remaining four meetings. The latter pattern held in the first set, as Sabalenka's power proved too much once again. And then, it all shifted. Andreeva thought herself into the match, using every inch of the court as she picked Sabalenka off with angled passes and pinpoint lobs. It was a tactical masterclass to seal a remarkable second straight WTA 1000 title.
[3] Amanda Anisimova d. [6] Jasmine Paolini 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4, Beijing quarterfinals
Does any match epitomise Amanda Anisimova's improvement in 2025 more than this one? The American's power and perfect timing were already known weapons, but this year she's brought both mental and physical resilience into her game as well. The home stretch of her Beijing quarterfinal encapsulated this. The indefatigable Jasmine Paolini had withstood Anisimova's offense, come up with some superb down-the-line winners on the run and was poised to take a crucial lead in the third set. Serving down 4-3, Anisimova saved a total of six break points -- almost all with winning shots -- to draw level at 4-4. Paolini took a 30-0 lead in the next game, only for Anisimova to hit a hot streak at the best possible juncture and reel off eight straight points for the win. At 2 hours and 47 minutes long, it was one of five matches Anisimova played this year that went over the two-and-a-half hour mark -- all of which she won.
[3] Sara Errani & Jasmine Paolini d. Mirra Andreeva & Diana Shnaider 4-6, 7-6(2), [11-9], Doha semifinals
One of the finest recent rivalries in the doubles game has been the intergenerational series between Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini and Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider, and their Doha semifinal was its best moment to date. At that point, the two pairs had scored one win each against each other, the Italians edging the 2024 Olympic Games gold medal match in a super-tiebreak and the youngsters avenging that loss at the Australian Open. Andreeva and Shnaider picked up where they left off, with Shnaider's forehand and net prowess shining again as they took a 6-4, 4-1 lead. But Errani -- who turned pro before Andreeva was born -- and Paolini worked their way back in gradually, outfoxing their opponents with an array of angles and saving three match points, one down 5-3 in the second set and the next two in the deciding super-tiebreak.