Carlos Alcaraz reigns supreme, Emma Raducanu reaches her big goal – 2025 rankings predictions

Kevin Palmer 01 Oct 2025 5:30 PM

Carlos Alcaraz with Emma Raducanu inset

The race to claim the final ranking points of 2025 is on, with some huge prizes still up for grabs even though the major prizes have already been handed out at this year’s Grand Slam tournaments.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are embroiled in a compelling battle to claim the prestigious year-end No 1 ranking in the men’s game, with Aryna Sabalenka well-placed to claim top spot in the women’s list.

This period of the tennis year can feel a little flat with the next Grand Slam in Australia not on the horizon until mid-January, but here are our predictions on what we can expect for the rest of 2025.

Carlos Alcaraz reigns supreme

Alcaraz confirmed he was in prime form as he won the Japan Open in impressive fashion, backing up his US Open win last month with a series of thrilling performances, yet his win came at a cost.

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The ankle injury he suffered early in his run in Japan forced him to pull out of the ATP 1000 tournament in Shanghai and that will deny him a chance to lengthen his advantage over Sinner at the top of the rankings.

Yet with Sinner the defending champion in Shanghai, he cannot add to his ranking points total this week and that means Alcaraz should still be in pole position to claim the year-end No 1 ranking.

With the Italian having a lot of ranking points to defend in the final weeks of the year, including defending his ATP Finals title, Alcaraz should have enough to clinch the No 1 ranking and he may even seal the deal in front of Sinner’s home fans when he plays at this year’s ATP Finals in Turin.

Sabalenka in pole position

Aryna Sabalenka has lived through a challenging year that saw her lose two Grand Slam finals and narrowly miss out on some of her big targets, but she is the firm favourite to finish the season as world No 1.

The Belarusian took a couple of weeks off and missed this week’s China Open after her US Open win last month, with her decision opening the door for Iga Swiatek to close the gap on her at the top of the WTA Rankings.

Yet Swiatek’s shock defeat against Emma Navarro in Beijing was a massive blow to her hopes of finishing the year as world No 1, with her inconsistency likely to ensure she will not overhaul Sabalenka at the top of the rankings.

Emma Raducanu’s big goal

The British No 1 has set herself a goal of finishing inside the top 32 of the WTA Rankings in 2025, as she targets a seeded berth in the opening Grand Slam of the new year at the Australian Open.

That target looks set to to be met, with the 2021 US Open champion already inside the top 30 and pressing for more points in next week’s WTA 1000 event in Wuhan and in subsequent events in Asia.

Raducanu may have come up short in some matches she should have won this year and she was heavily beaten by some of the game’s biggest hitters on Grand Slam stages, but she is back in the mix at the top of the game and could be a player to watch in 2026.

Look out for… Sonay Kartal and Alexander Zverev

These two players appear to be headed in very different directions.

Kartal grew up playing alongside Emma Raducanu in junior events in Britain and now she is emerging from her shadow after a fine run to the fourth round at Wimbledon has been backed up by a first appearance in a WTA 1000 event in Beijing.

Her win against Mirra Andreva was a sign that she is comfortable mixing with the players at the top of the women’s game and she could target Raducanu for the British No 1 ranking if she continues on her present path.

As for Zverev, the misery continues.

The world No 3 has been clung to that lofty ranking despite a horrible run of form and a collapse of confidence that shows no sign of waning.

This German giant has not been in good form for most of 2025 and he could have a few more painful defeats to add to his record unless he finds a way to click back into top form quickly.