As a tennis fan, I obviously watch my favourite players most closely, but as many of my faves were injured or absent this year, I watched a lot of the WTA tour as a fan and with a slightly more open mind than usual. So many great matches – as always – so here are a few of my picks for the best matches of the year. In no particular order… 

OK, so it’s been a tough year for me as a Barbora Krejcikova fan. Barbie K was injured for most of the first half of the year and her return took a while to get going. However, her match against Taylor Townsend at the US Open this year was just amazing. To be honest, Krejcikova was awful for most of the first set and it was definitely not her best performance of the year, but the second set tie break where she saved 8 match points was just so thrilling. The US crowd going nuts for Taylor, Krejcikova playing sublime and gritty tennis. Unforgettable! 

One of the most unexpected treats of the year was this match between Lois Boisson and Elsa Jacquemot at Roland Garros in round 3 this year. Of course Boisson went on to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros after dramatic wins over Jess Pegula and Mirra Andreeva, but this all French affair was just so engrossing! I can honestly say I had barely heard of either player before this week – although Boisson had the notorious encounter with Harriet Dart who takes the award for bitchiest comment of the year, suggesting Boisson needed deodorant. Yeah, YOU stink Harriet!! There was an intriguing match between Brit, Jack Draper and Joao Fonseca scheduled, but I was glued to the drama of Boisson and legs-for-days Jacquemot! 

I love Wimbledon and pretty much all of Aryna Sabalenka’s Wimbledon matches were worth watching this year. She had a great battle with Marie Bouzkova, Elise Mertens pushed her hard but the next three were unmissable! It was Friday nightlights as Sabalenka took on British darling Emma Raducanu under the roof on the first Friday in round 3 of Wimbledon and what an amazing, electric match it was. Yes, it ended up straight sets to the world number 1, but Raducanu showed why she’s a grand slam champion while Sabalenka showed why she is world number 1. It was an amazing atmosphere – watched by over 5 million people on tv too! 

Laura Siegmund gets a bad rap from many people but I have a bit of a soft spot for the abrasive German and in the very next round she almost sent Sabalenka packing as she used all her skills and tricks to send Sabalenka loopy. Such an entertaining match and contrast of styles and I loved this – although I am not sure Aryna enjoyed it much! (sadly could not find the full match online this time..) 

I make no apology that I am a Sabalenka fan so I’m not going to pick the Wimbledon semifinal where she lost to Amanda Anisimova – sorry Amanda fans – but I’m also not picking the US Open final where Aryna won. Instead, I’m choosing their match at the WTA finals which for me was the highest quality of them all. Yes, Anisimova tired a bit mentally and physically at the end but the quality of ball striking was amazing from both. I am not Anisimova fan but that backhand of hers really is a thing of beauty. (Highlights only unfortunately…) 

Possibly one of the highest quality matches of the year was Marketa Vondrousova’s win over Elena Rybakina at the US Open this year. Rybakina was building up a head of steam and playing well, but Vondrousova showed once again that her top level is just stunning! The way she served this match out – against the best server on tour! – was just out of this world. Of course in sadly typical Vondrousova fashion, she was forced to withdraw from the very next match, giving Sabalenka a path to the semifinals and ultimately the title. But if you forget what a talent Marketa Vondrousova is, watch this match. It was the last match on Ashe after a Djokovic match and the way the crowd got into it was great. 

An early contender for match of the year was the Australian Open semifinal between Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek. Of course, this was Madi’s magical fortnight when she played absolutely sublime tennis and was the deserved champion. Iga had started the year well, was looking like she had sussed out what to do on a hard court, had a match point even, but Keys was just in the zone. A terrific quality match and one of the very best and most dramatic of the year. 

For many WTA tennis fans, a Sabalenka-Swiatek match is what we want to see. These two have been the top 2 players for the last few years but actually have not played that often. Their only match this year was an engrossing but slightly odd one at Roland Garros. For 2 sets it was all we wanted – tight, competitive, good quality. Then the third set happened. Swiatek disappeared and Sabalenka raced through it 6-0. A weird one but the first 2 sets were amazing! 

Jess Pegula had a bit of an epic Asian autumn. ‘Dafu’ herself pulled off the seemingly impossible in Wuhan, beating Aryna Sabalenka who had never lost a match there, and also doing it in a final set tie break when Sabalenka was on a 20 win streak! Yes, as an Aryna fan this hurt but I like Jess and she was just so rock solid in this match. A really exciting, compelling match – as so many of their matches have been lately! (Highlights only) 

I’m sure there are loads more I could choose but these are some of the ones that I really loved this year. A few honourable mentions: Sabalenka vs Raducanu in Cincinnati where Aryna only just squeaked through. Vicky Mboko‘s run in Canada was amazing and I’d probably pick out her semifinal won over Rybakina as the best match. The extremely partisan crowd made it a slightly less enjoyable watch for non-Canadians but Mboko was a vibe, and Rybakina was on her run of losing tight matches. Barbora Krejcikova was at her match point saving best again in Korea where she beat Emma Raducanu after saving 3 match points in another epic second set tie break. In fact Barbie K won 4 matches from match point down this year. Pretty special! Finally, the last match of the year was pretty special. Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the WTA finals, playing just sublime tennis. Sabalenka had to be at her very best to cling on by her finger nails as Rybakina was just in the zone and awesomely good. 

Roll on 2026.