Spaniard resumes intense rivalry with Jannik Sinner, while Sabalenka and Swiatek remain at the top of women’s game
Amid the endless flood of Instagram photo dumps and gushy captions from social media users around the world saluting another year gone by, Carlos Alcaraz’s efforts were particularly interesting. The candid photos chosen by Alcaraz from his camera roll included dozens of friends and family, various barbecues and his many haircuts throughout the year, but there was no room at all for one notable individual: Juan Carlos Ferrero.
The abrupt dissolution of the coaching partnership between Alcaraz and Ferrero is one of the most shocking recent coaching splits and the reaction has been dramatic. Journalists swarmed outside Alcaraz’s tennis club in El Palmar a day after the news in their futile attempts to speak with the world No 1, then Ferrero decided to give a number of interviews to offer his own side of the story. Reports from Spain detailing reasons for the end to their partnership continue to circulate. Depending on who you ask, Alcaraz either made a fatal mistake by not fighting harder to maintain his relationship with the coach who guided him for seven years, or he is courageously taking responsibility for his career as an adult.
What is clear, however, is that at the beginning of another new tennis season, Alcaraz’s coaching split, how it affects him and plays into the sport’s defining rivalry, is the biggest storyline of all. Alcaraz enjoyed by far the best season of his career in 2025, winning two grand slam titles and returning to the No 1 ranking. The 22-year-old will soon head to Melbourne for the Australian Open, which begins on 12 January, attempting to become the youngest man in history to win all four grand slam titles. In order to do so, he will probably have to battle with his great rival Jannik Sinner, the two-time defending Australian Open champion, who will have his own shot at the career grand slam at the French Open.
Last year Alcaraz and Sinner tightened their hold over the men’s tour, sharing the biggest titles and shutting the rest out. Sinner produced another astounding season under intense scrutiny after his failed doping test in 2024 that eventually led to a three-month ban last year. With so many eyes on his adversary, the Italian will surely relish being able to work in relative silence.
Dominant periods from top players can sometimes inspire a reaction from the challengers beneath them, but at the moment it is difficult to see who could match up to Sinner and Alcaraz. Novak Djokovic recently noted that the 2028 Olympics remains his goal and he has no intention of retiring right now but challenging for the biggest titles is more difficult each year. The 38-year-old remarkably reached the semi-finals in all four grand slam tournaments last year and he is still capable of playing brilliant tennis, but his ageing body simply hasn’t been able to withstand the rigours of the best-of-five-sets format. The rest of the field, including Alexander Zverev, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Ben Shelton and Taylor Fritz, has a long way to go to close the gap.
As ever, the two-pronged dominance on the ATP Tour contrasts sharply with the uncertainty at the top of the WTA circuit. The women’s tour is in brilliant shape, also led by two supreme champions in Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.
Although Sabalenka produced one of the best seasons of her career, holding off Swiatek to earn the year-end No 1 ranking, the 27-year-old has plenty of questions to answer herself. Sabalenka’s remarkable consistency is reflected in her nine finals, but she lost five of them. She has not always been able to produce her best form under the suffocating pressure of major finals, which could mark the difference between Sabalenka ending her career as one of the best players of her generation and a true all-time great. Swiatek, meanwhile, will surely be emboldened by her triumph at Wimbledon, the one tournament she was genuinely unsure she could win. She will also be attempting to complete her career grand slam at the Australian Open, aged just 24.
Although Sabalenka and Swiatek lead the field, the rest of the top players will head into the biggest tournaments in 2026 knowing they are capable of beating anyone in any draw. After reaching the last two grand slam finals, at Wimbledon and the US Open, Amanda Anisimova has positioned herself as one of the top challengers. As has Elena Rybakina, the 2025 WTA Finals champion, who finally seems ready to follow up her 2022 Wimbledon triumph.
Coco Gauff, meanwhile, had an extended period during the off-season to work on her service woes with her new biomechanics coach, Gavin MacMillan. Her triumph at the French Open provided prime evidence of her ability to make herself so difficult to beat under pressure. Still just 21, she will surely put herself in positions to show those qualities again. Mirra Andreeva, herself 18, has plenty to prove after losing steam in the second half of 2025.
While professional tennis players return to match courts around the world, there is still plenty to resolve away from them. The Professional Tennis Players Association remains in a legal battle with the majority of the governing bodies, but a separate settlement between the PTPA and Tennis Australia in early 2026 is on the table. The top players will probably continue to demand a greater revenue share from the grand slam tournaments. The All England Club, meanwhile, continues to navigate the legal processes obstructing the club from finally putting the AELTC Wimbledon Park project into action and beginning the expansion of its grounds on the land of the private golf club it bought directly across the road from the current site.
A new tennis season has arrived once again, but so many of sport’s issues remain unchanged.
