10 BIGGEST TENNIS STORIES OF THE YEAR SO FAR

The tennis season has moved on to the clay for the next phase of the 2025 season.

With the first quarter of the year now behind us, there’s been some massive stories already.

The First Serve takes a look back at 10 of the biggest headlines during the opening three months of the year.

Jannik Sinner’s Australian Open win, and subsequent doping ban

Jannik Sinner entered Melbourne with the doping saga still hanging over his head since August last year. It was announced by the ITIA (International Tennis Integrity Agency), that Sinner, the world No. 1, had twice tested positive for Clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid, in March 2024.

He admitted to reporters before the event began that it played on his mind.

"You think about this, of course," he said.

"I would lie if I would tell you I forget. It's something what I have with me now already for quite a long time, but it is what it is."

By entering the code TFS2025 you will receive 15% off the RRP on all non-sale items when you shop online at www.racquetworld.com.au

However, that didn’t appear to hold him back at all. Despite looking like he was about to exit Melbourne in the fourth-round against Holger Rune, Sinner found a way to dig in and get through that match. From there, he was never troubled, defeating Alex de Minaur, Ben Shelton and Alexander Zverev in the final, without dropping a set.

For Sinner though, that final was to be the last match of the year so far, with WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) appealing the decision by the ITIA, which found Sinner bore "no fault or negligence" for those positive tests.

The ITIA accepted his explanation that he had been contaminated by a healing spray purchased by his physio, Umberto Ferrara. Sinner’s physiotherapist, Giacomo Naldi, subsequently used the spray on a cut on his hand, which was transferred into Sinner's system during a massage treatment.

The WADA appeal held up though, and although they initially pushed for a one to two year ban, the decision resulted in Sinner being given a three-month expulsion, running from February 9 through to May 4, meaning the Italian won’t miss any of the Grand Slam events.

Needless to say, the decision has caused more than a ripple within the tennis community.

Bad behaviour from crowds and journalists

The Australian Open may have produced stunning matches, big results and interesting storylines, yet one of the negatives to come out of the event was the behaviour of certain sections of the crowd, and media.

At various times throughout the tournament, the crowds showed a level of contempt towards certain players, including Danielle Collins, who was quick to return serve to the stands after taking on Australia’s Destanee Aiava on Kia Arena.

Her on-court interview was heavily booed by fans, but Collins riled them up further with her sarcastic answers.

"I was thinking through the match, 'I might as well just take that big fat pay cheque'," she said.

"Coco [Gauff] and I, we love a good five-star vacation, so part of that cheque will go towards that, so thank you. Thank you for coming out here and supporting us tonight. Thanks guys, love you."

But it wasn’t just the crowd in the news. Channel 9 journalist Tony Jones found himself in hot water, for what he considered "a joke", and "a bit of banter". He was seen on camera "mocking" the Serbian fans, by chanting "has-been" and "kick him out" in relation to Novak Djokovic.

However, Jones’ jokes didn’t go down well with players and the wider tennis public, with Djokovic going so far as to boycott on-court interviews until he received a personal apology.

It certainly wasn’t a great look for the host broadcaster.

 João Fonseca arrives on the scene

Brazil has been waiting a long time to have a male player at the top of the tennis rankings, and while he’s not there yet, João Fonseca fever has officially taken hold.

It has been bubbling away for a year or two for hard-core tennis fans, but the rest of the public finally witnessed what all the hype was about during the Australian summer.

Fonseca finished the 2024 season by ripping his way through the Next Gen Finals without dropping a match. He then opened the year at the Canberra Challenger, taking the title without dropping a set.

On to the Australian Open qualifying, it was clear the tennis world had discovered him. His matches on the outside courts were standing room only, and Fonseca delivered.

Cruising through to the main draw, he then faced up to Andrey Rublev in the first-round. In a blistering display on Margaret Court Arena, Fonseca showcased all he has to offer by completely outclassing the World No.9 in straight sets.

While his run ended in the following round, Fonseca has since kicked on. He won his first ATP 250 title in Buenos Aires, as well as the Phoenix 175 Challenger.

Every match Fonseca plays is box office at the moment, with spectators flocking to see the 18-year-old, who is being hailed as a 'generational talent'.

Mirra Andreeva may dominate for years 

While we’re on the subject of 'generational talent', on the WTA Tour, they have their own special teenager, who is finally starting to receive the hype she deserves.

Mirra Andreeva has been on the scene for a few years now, but 2025 seems to be the year where she is announcing herself on the biggest stages.

Considering Andreeva already started the year inside the top-20 as a 17-year-old, it’s probably fair to say she already proved herself as a massive threat to the top players. But until this year, Andreeva had 'only' made two WTA finals and won a 250 event last year, which is why the opening months of 2025 have been phenomenal. Defending her fourth-round at the Australian Open, then losing in round two in Doha, not many would’ve predicted what would happen next.

Andreeva would go on a 13-match win streak, winning the Dubai 1000 and backing up with the Indian Wells title the following week.

Defeating Iga Świątek twice, Elena Rybakina twice, and Aryna Sabalenka, Andreeva has now jumped to world No.7, sitting third in the 2025 race, only behind Sabalenka and Madison Keys.

Madison Keys wins first Slam

In what must’ve been one of the most popular Grand Slam wins in history, American Madison Keys finally lived up to the high expectations that had been placed upon her from a young age.

In what could easily go down as the match of the year, Keys overcame Świątek in a classic semi-final, before executing in the final to defeat two-time champion Sabalenka 6-3 2-6 7-5.

Keys had been hyped as a Slam winner before she even made it to her teenage years, and admitted it was releasing that pressure that ultimately helped her reach the dream of a major win.

"I felt like from a pretty young age, if I never won a Grand Slam, then I wouldn’t have lived up to what people thought I should have been. That was a pretty heavy burden to kind of carry around," she shared.

"I finally got to the point where I was proud of myself and proud of my career, with or without a Grand Slam. I finally got to the point where I was okay if it didn’t happen. I didn’t need it to feel like I had a good career or that I deserved to be talked about as a great tennis player."

The 2017 US Open finalist is one of the strongest players on tour, and the match-up with Sabalenka promised some powerful hitting. It didn’t disappoint.

Keys is now no longer the best player to never win a Slam.

Mixed doubles receives a surprise shake-up

Doubles has been in the news a bit over the past few years. Should the tour promote the event better? Should doubles players receive more money? Less money? Does doubles scheduling at the Slams need to improve?

All of those are legitimate questions, but most of the tennis world was caught off guard when the US Open announced they would be completely changing the structure of the mixed doubles at this year’s event. The following changes were announced:

• Primetime ESPN coverage

• Event held on the two largest arenas on site – Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadium

• To be held over two days during qualifying week

• 16 teams competing

• Eight entrants based on their singles ranking, and eight Wildcard entries

• Format will be best of three sets, but only up to four games, with no-advantage. Deciding set to be a 10-point-tiebreak

• Final will be best of three sets, up to six games, with no-advantage. Deciding set to be a 10-point-tiebreak

It’s fair to say the responses were 'mixed' (pardon the pun). In general, the players were left far from happy.

Jan Zieliński, former world No.7 doubles player and dual mixed doubles champion in 2024 posted on social media: "No communication with the players, no thought behind what it means to some people's careers, no respect to the history and traditions. Sad to see."

Édouard Roger-Vasselin, former No.6 ranked doubles player and French Open mixed doubles champion wrote: "Terrible decision not to let the doubles players play the mixed doubles at the US Open."

Time will tell whether this is the start of a successful re-brand or a complete disaster.

Jack Draper breaks into the top-10

Jack Draper has been spruiked for years about being the next British Grand Slam winner. While he’s not there yet, he’s taken some giant strides to reach that level.

Back in 2023, Draper cracked the top-40, before dropping out of the top-100 later that year due to injury.

He has returned in a big way though.

After a strong 2024, where he won titles in Vienna and Stuttgart, Draper began this season at world No.15.

In Australia, Draper was forced to retire in the round of 16 against Carlos Alcaraz, having played three five-set matches in a row. He followed that up with a run to the final in Doha, going down to Andrey Rublev.

But it was in Indian Wells where Draper put his name in lights, winning his first Masters 1000 title to surge into the top-10.

En-route to the coveted trophy, Draper defeated young gun João Fonseca, Jenson Brooksby, and four players in the top 15 – Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Alcaraz and Holger Rune in the final (6-2 6-2).

"It's incredible. I wasn't expecting this," Draper said, just after his victory.

"I've put in a lot of work over time and I'm just so grateful and so happy to be out here to be able to play, my body being healthy, to feel great in my mind. All the work I've done over the last few years feels like it's coming together on the big stage and I can't put that into words."

Draper now finds himself at world No.6, and fourth in the race to Turin's ATP Finals.

Daria Kasatkina joins Australia 

In what was one of the biggest surprises of the year so far, Russia’s Daria Kasatkina announced - seemingly out of nowhere - that she received the green light to defect to Australia.

Kasatkina had been working towards her permanent residency for some time behind the scenes, but her announcement caught most of the tennis community by surprise.

She revealed the news on social media:

"I am delighted to let you all know that my application for permanent residency has been accepted by the Australian Government," she wrote on Instagram.

"Australia is a place I love, is incredibly welcoming and a place where I feel totally home. I love being in Melbourne and look forward to making my home there. As part of this I am proud to announce that I will be representing my new homeland, Australia, in my professional tennis career from this point onwards."

In doing so, Kasatkina became Australia’s highest-ranked player, which hadn’t impressed all Australian tennis fans initially. However, it will be interesting to see what kind of support she receives during the Australian summer next year.

Aussies generally like to get behind anyone who has the flag next to their name, so it’s fair to think she’ll receive a warm welcome.

 Jakub Menšík reminds everyone he is the Next Gen 

With Fonseca hogging much of the early season hype, it was easy to forget another teenager was going quietly about his business.

Czech 19-year-old Jakub Menšík announced himself to the wider tennis public by taking home the Miami Masters title.

Beginning the season just inside the top-50, Menšík displayed some solid results early, reaching the quarter-finals of Brisbane and Auckland, before making the third-round in Melbourne.

But in the following month or so, there was nothing to hint at what was about to come in the Florida heat.

Menšík forged his way through the top-class field, defeating a trio of top-10 players along the way – Draper, Fritz, and Novak Djokovic in the final.

Djokovic was Menšík’s hero growing up and admitted he was the reason he got into the sport.

"I'm here because of you," Menšík told Djokovic during the trophy presentation.

"Thank you so much for everything you have done in this sport. Greatest of all time."

PTPA lawsuit 

The Professional Tennis Player’s Association (PTPA) dropped a bomb on the tennis world when they filed a lawsuit against major tennis organisations, including the ATP, WTA, ITF and ITIA.

Djokovic and Vasek Pospisil were the co-founders of the Association in 2019, setting up the union to offer a voice for all players at all levels of the sport.

The PTPA listed various concerns in their lawsuit, including, but not limited to:

• Collusion to reduce competition

• Fixing prize money and suppressing player earnings

• Forcing an unsustainable schedule

• Exploiting players financially

• Violating privacy rights

The statement put out by the PTPA went on to say: "The lawsuits expose systemic abuse, anti-competitive practices, and a blatant disregard for player welfare that have persisted for decades," it read.

"The ATP, WTA, ITF, and ITIA operate as a cartel by implementing a number of draconian, interlocking anti-competitive restraints and abusive practices."

While the PTPA suggested they had spoken to over 300 players before the lawsuit, in the following weeks, several players were seemingly distancing themselves from it.

Carlos Alcaraz stated: "I am not supporting that. So that’s it. Honestly, it was surprising for me, because nobody told me about it. I just saw it on social media."

Coco Gauff also knew nothing about it.

"I honestly don't have a lot of information on that whole thing, to be honest with you," she explained. "I saw a post about it. I found out about it when everybody else did."

Brought to you by HEAD, Your Game Is Their Game. Find all the latest HEAD tennis, padel, pickleball and squash products now at www.head.com