Breaking into the top-10 of the WTA Rankings is a significant milestone for any player – but who could achieve that in 2025?
Ahead of the start of the new season, we select five women who could be in line for significant rankings breakthroughs over the next 12 months.
Current ranking: 13
Career-high ranking: 12
Only Iga Swiatek won more WTA singles titles than Shnaider in 2024, with the Russian winning her first four titles in a landmark season.
Most remarkably, she was the only woman to win titles on hard, clay, and grass this season, and rose from a 2023 year-end ranking of world No 60 to a career-high of 12th in 2024.
Now ranked 13th in the world, the 20-year-old is currently the highest-ranked WTA player to have never been in the top 10.
Shnaider is yet to go on a big run at a major or go consistently deep at WTA 1000 events, and doing so will surely propel her nearer the top of the game in 2025.
Current ranking: 14
Career-high ranking: 11
One of the most-improved players of 2024, Kalinskaya overcame a string of persistent injury issues to reach a career-high of 11th in 2024 – just one spot shy of a landmark rankings breakthrough.
After ending 2023 as the world No 77, the 26-year-old comfortably moved inside the top 20 of the WTA Rankings after reaching the last eight of the Australian Open – and reaching finals in Dubai and Berlin.
Kalinskaya is yet to win a WTA title, falling agonisingly short in both those finals, though ended a career-best season as the world No 14.
She has a big chunk of points to defend early on in 2025 but a rise into the top 10 would surprise no one based on how much she has improved in recent months.
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Current ranking: 16
Career-high ranking: 16
Perhaps the most talked about rising star in the women’s game, 2024 saw Andreeva scale new heights as she showed why she is one of the hottest prospects in the sport.
The 17-year-old cracked the top 20 and reached her first Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open – beating Aryna Sabalenka – while also winning her first WTA title in Iasi.
A first WTA 500 final in Ningbo towards the end of the season saw Andreeva get back on track following a bumpy summer and stands her in good stead for 2025.
Having risen 30 places in the WTA Rankings across 2024, what could await the teen star in 2025?
Current ranking: 18
Career-high ranking: 16
One of the form players of the first half of 2024, Kostyuk broke into the top 20 of the WTA Rankings this past season – now can she rise even further?
The Ukrainian did not win a singles title this year but reached significant WTA 500 finals in San Diego and Stuttgart, alongside reaching the last four of Indian Wells and making a first Slam quarter-final in Melbourne.
Kostyuk’s form cooled slightly in the second half of 2024 but she still managed to match her career-best round-three showings at Wimbledon and the US Open, and finished the season ranked 18th.
The Ukrainian faces a bit of rankings pressure at the start of 2025 but is more than capable of having risen even further by the end of 2025.
Current ranking: 26
Career-high ranking: 25
A bit of a wildcard in our list, Noskova’s first target might be to try and break into the top 20.
However, after a significant breakthrough season for the Czech Republic’s latest WTA talent, she could climb even further than that in 2025.
The past season saw Noskova stun Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open and ultimately reach her first Slam quarter-final at the Australian Open, before winning a WTA 500 title in Monterrey.
Coached by Petra Kvitova’s former coach David Kotyza, the world No 26 is certainly one to watch in the next few months.
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