Who is Ashlyn Krueger? US star +11 in WTA Rankings after Abu Dhabi run

Oli Dickson Jefford 07 Feb 2025 4:05 PM

Ashlyn Krueger walks off court.

Ashlyn Krueger is set for a milestone rankings rise after reaching the final of the Abu Dhabi Open.

In a surprise semi-final at the WTA 500 event, the US star fended off fellow unseeded opponent Linda Noskova 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach just the second final of her career.

To reach this stage of the tournament, Krueger has knocked out two seeds, beating third seed Daria Kasatkina in round two and eighth seed Leylah Fernandez in the quarter-finals.

“It feels amazing,” said Krueger in her on-court interview. “I’m so happy to do it here [reach her biggest final] in Abu Dhabi. I couldn’t be more happy.

“I’ve just been really believing in my game. My coach and I have been working so hard recently on a lot of things – but I’ve just been believing in what I’m working on.”

Amid her breakout run, we take you through all you need to know about the latest star of US tennis.

Acclaimed coach

Krueger has been working with Michael Joyce since 2021 – a not-insignificant coup.

Joyce is one of the most celebrated coaches of recent years, most famous for his work with tennis icon Maria Sharapova.

He started working with Sharapova in 2004 and their partnership lasted until 2011, a spell which saw the Russian win her first three major titles and reach world No 1 for the first time.

After parting ways with Sharapova, Joyce worked with Jessica Pegula for five years before short-lived partnerships with Victoria Azarenka, Johanna Konta, Eugenie Bouchard, and Timea Babos.

Joyce began working with Krueger shortly after he joined USTA Player Development as a women’s tennis national coach.

2023 and 2024 breakthroughs

After making her Grand Slam debut back at the 2021 US Open, Krueger began to make significant inroads on the WTA Tour in 2023.

Though she failed to qualify for the first three Grand Slams of the season, the American made a third consecutive appearance at her home major that summer.

Just weeks later she captured the first – and so far only – WTA title of her career, lifting the Japan Women’s Open title thanks to a straight-sets win over Zhu Lin in the final.

Krueger would finish 2023 as the world No 81 having cracked the top 100 of the WTA Rankings, and then made her Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon debuts in 2024.

She then won a Grand Slam match for the first time at the US Open, defeating Zhang Shuai and 21st seed Mirra Andreeva before falling to 16th seed Liudmila Samsonova.

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Stunning start to 2025

While somewhat of a surprise, Krueger’s Abu Dhabi run hasn’t completely come out of nowhere.

The 20-year-old started her season with a run to the last eight of the WTA 500 event in Brisbane, defeating the likes of sixth seed Anna Kalinskaya before being beaten by eventual finalist Polina Kudermetova.

Krueger backed that up with an impressive run in Adelaide, coming through qualifying to reach back-to-back quarter-finals to start the year.

She beat fifth seed Paula Badosa in the round of 16, before retiring injured versus top seed Pegula.

Krueger fell in the opening round of the Australian Open to Ajla Tomljanovic, though has recaptured her form with a career-best run in Abu Dhabi.