WTA Match of the Year Honorable Mentions: Comebacks, marathons, anti-epics, and Sabalenka on the winning side
Published: Dec 13, 2025
Jaceline
Writer
They didn't land in our Top 5, but these matches still thrilled.
© 2025 Getty Images
This week, we counted down our Top 5 best WTA matches of the 2025 tennis season...
No. 5: Madison Keys topples Iga Swiatek in dramatic Australian Open semifinal
No. 4: Jessica Pegula ends Aryna Sabalenka's 20-0 Wuhan reign
No. 3: Barbora Krejcikova, Taylor Townsend produce 2025's most heart-stopping contest
No. 2: Victoria Mboko escaped Elena Rybakina, and drove her home fans berserk, in Montreal Cinderella run
No. 1: Amanda Anisimova comes of age in Aryna Sabalenka Wimbledon stunner
...but those weren't the only women's matches that thrilled us this year. Read on for some honorable mentions that just missed the cut.
Aryna Sabalenka d. Laura Siegemund, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4
Wimbledon quarterfinals
Come for Siegemund’s maddening array of slices, drops, angles, lobs, passes, volleys, and delay tactics; stay for Sabalenka’s Herculean effort to overcome them.
Sabalenka survives Siegemund’s “maddening array of slices, drops, angles, lobs, passes, volleys, and delay tactics” at Wimbledon.
Coco Gauff d. Zheng Qinwen, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (4)
Rome semifinals
The numbers—3 hours, 32 minutes; 156 unforced errors; 44 break points—were staggering, even if the level of play in this anti-epic wasn’t. Gauff’s comeback win, from 3-5 in the third, helped launch her to a Roland Garros title.
Read More: "All heart": Coco Gauff finds a way in Rome semifinal marathon against Zheng Qinwen
Alexandra Eala d. Clara Tauson, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (11)
US Open first round
Two of the pleasant surprises of 2025 in a berserk Big Apple epic. Eala’s Filipino fanbase helped her slug her way back from 1-5 in the third, and pulverize a final winning forehand on her fifth match point.
Iga Świątek d. Elena Rybakina 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
Roland Garros fourth round
Iga’s turnaround moment. Down 6-1, 2-0, her Queen of Clay crown slipping fast, she took a rip at two backhands, and won two points. From there, her topspin bombs started finding their targets again. Six weeks later, she was Wimbledon champ.
Read More: Iga Swiatek claims Elena Rybakina comeback at 2025 Roland Garros
Aryna Sabalenka "Proud" After Winning 2025 US Open | TC Live
Aryna Sabalenka d. Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
US Open semifinals
From her fast start to her match-point saves at the end, Pegula was brilliant. But Sabalenka, after years of losing this type of match, in front of this type of hostile crowd, finally showed her No. 1 mettle, and went on to win her only Slam of the year.
