Rather a lot can change in a yr on the tennis tour. Round this time in 2024, Naomi Osaka was 57th on this planet, nonetheless searching for traction following her return from maternity go away. Belinda Bencic was 487th, simply getting began on her personal comeback. Eighteen-year-old Victoria Mboko was 336th and solely starting to embark on a high-level skilled pursuit. Now they’re sixteenth, eleventh and 18th on this planet, respectively. Amanda Anisimova jumped from thirty sixth to fourth.
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On the boys’s aspect, Felix Auger-Aliassime rose from twenty ninth to fifth. Youngsters Joao Fonseca and Learner Tien leapt from 145th and 122nd, respectively, to twenty fourth and twenty eighth. The names on the very high of the game did not change all that a lot, however just about every little thing else did.
With the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it tennis offseason now over — significantly, the Australian Open begins in lower than two weeks someway — the caravan is about to begin shifting yet again. We’ll must preview the Aussie Open in due time, however as we start 2026, let’s discuss American tennis. We noticed some pleasant strikes from gamers corresponding to Anisimova and Tien in 2025, however what may occur shifting ahead? What may the hierarchy seem like a yr from now?
ATP
The 2026 ATP season will likely be outlined by whether or not anybody can step as much as problem the rule of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The 2 enter 2026 having compiled 23,550 rankings factors over the previous yr, a better level complete than what gamers No. 3 by 7 earned mixed. They met in three of 4 Slam finals in 2025, they usually’ve mixed to win eight consecutive Slam titles. We’ll see if anybody can put an finish to this run, however two of the most important candidates to take action are People.
1. Taylor Fritz
Age: 28
Present ATP rank: 9 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 5
Virtually nobody in males’s tennis has executed a greater job of slowly shoring up his weaknesses and maxing out his recreation than the California-born Fritz, who’s ending his fourth straight yr within the high 10 and second straight within the high six. He reached the 2024 US Open closing and the 2025 Wimbledon semis, and he scored his first official win over Alcaraz on the Laver Cup in September. (He is additionally 1-4 towards Sinner.) His recreation may need peaked in 2024, however he has earned the best to guide this listing for an additional yr.
2. Ben Shelton
Age: 23
Present ATP rank: 8 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 12
If any American can go Fritz and problem the Massive 2, it is the flamboyant Shelton, who loved his first top-10 marketing campaign in 2025 and reached his second-ever Slam semifinal in Australia to begin the yr. The large lefty with the massive lefty serve has cleared a number of hurdles, however the greatest one continues to be to come back: He is 0-3 all time towards Alcaraz and has misplaced his previous eight towards Sinner. He’ll want a robust begin in 2026 — he returned from a US Open shoulder harm in October however misplaced six of his final 9 matches in 2025.
3. Learner Tien
Age: 20
Present ATP rank: 26 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 13
He is solely 5-foot-11, and his athleticism is common by tennis’ ridiculous requirements. However no American — and actually, nearly no ATP participant — loved a extra rousing 2025 than Tien, who went an unbelievable 5-3 towards top-10 opponents, received the year-end Subsequent Gen event and rose from 122nd to twenty eighth within the ATP rankings. His recreation relies round depth, precision, adaptable techniques and an amazing degree of “I belong right here” confidence, and if he can improve his serve just a bit bit, he has top-15 potential at worst.
4. Tommy Paul
Age: 28
Present ATP rank: 20 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 29
Due to a irritating foot harm, Paul performed solely 5 tour matches after Wimbledon, and regardless of reaching the primary two Slam quarterfinals of the yr, he completed outdoors the ATP high 15 for the primary time since 2022. When he is in high kind, he is able to short-term, redlining brilliance — he took a 6-1 first set towards Sinner in Rome in Could earlier than dropping the subsequent two — and he has reached 4 Slam quarters and a semifinal. Can relaxation and rehab enable him to renew that degree in 2026?
5. Sebastian Korda
Age: 25
Present ATP rank: 46 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 21
Do not be late — it is time to board the Seb Korda bandwagon once more! The 25-year-old has handled quite a few accidents and false begins since his lone Slam quarterfinal look on the 2023 Australian Open. However after a first-round retirement on the US Open dropped him to 79th, he made essentially the most of indoor season and charged again into the highest 50 with a run to the Athens semifinals. If his physique ever offers him a full yr of runway — a large “if” at this level — his technically good recreation may carry him fairly far.
6. Frances Tiafoe
Age: 27
Present ATP rank: 30 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 40
Perhaps no American participant faces an even bigger 2026 than Massive Foe. He completed outdoors of the ATP high 20 for the primary time since 2021, he misplaced his final 5 matches of the yr — leaving him simply 26-23 for the season (with no top-10 wins) — and solely a French Open quarterfinal look stored him within the high 30. Like many different gamers, he elected to shake up his teaching workforce for 2026. He is nonetheless younger sufficient to reestablish himself, however nothing is assured.
7. Jenson Brooksby
Age: 25
Present ATP rank: 49 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 42
In his first full season again on tour after a 13-month suspension for missed doping exams, Brooksby reestablished himself as a top-50-level participant and scored wins over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Holger Rune, Tiafoe and Paul. He reached a tour closing on each clay (he beat Tiafoe in Houston) and grass (misplaced to Fritz at Eastbourne), too. Does his enigmatic recreation have one thing greater than top-40 upside?
8. Alex Michelsen
Age: 21
Present ATP rank: 37 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 66
It nearly appeared a yr of stagnation for Michelsen, who completed 2024 at forty first on this planet and managed to rise solely a bit of bit additional in 2025. Nonetheless, he scored a top-10 win over Lorenzo Musetti over the summer time, and he checked bins together with his first fourth-round Slam look (Australian Open) and first 1000-level quarterfinal (Canadian Open). He is a candidate to rise in the course of the early-year hard-court run.
9. Brandon Nakashima
Age: 24
Present ATP rank: 33 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 44
It has been sluggish however regular enchancment from the previous Virginia Cavalier, who rose to thirty eighth in 2024, then thirty third in 2025. He has taken the Fritz route, slowly fixing his weaknesses and grinding out wins, however pure upside is a priority: He went simply 3-4 in Slams and 0-12 in full matches towards top-20 opponents in 2025.
10. Ethan Quinn
Age: 21
Present ATP rank: 76 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 78
The previous NCAA champion has good dimension (6-foot-3) and a robust serve-and-forehand recreation, and he jumped from outdoors the highest 200 into the highest 75 this previous yr. He certified for 3 Slams and received matches on the French Open and Wimbledon. The grind is simply beginning for the previous Georgia Bulldog, however at 21, he has a number of time to determine issues out.
Different potential breakthrough candidates: Reilly Opelka (present rank: 60), Emilio Nava (88), Eliot Spizzirri (89), Zachary Svajda (142), Colton Smith (145), Nishesh Basavareddy (172), Michael Zheng (182), Darwin Blanch (297).
WTA
I wrote final summer time that the depth in ladies’s tennis is healthier than ever, and it grew deeper with Mboko’s ensuing breakthrough and Osaka’s fall kind. The highest three gamers on the ladies’s tour (Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff) do not look like waning in energy, however Anisimova and a resurgent Elena Rybakina spherical out a dynamite high 5, and any of about 20 to 25 completely different gamers are taking a look at becoming a member of them within the high 10. This might be the deepest tour we have ever seen in 2026, and fairly a number of People may develop into critical components (past, after all, those who already are).
1. Coco Gauff
Age: 21
Present WTA rank: 4 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 4
In some way nonetheless solely 21, Gauff has already put collectively a hall-of-fame résumé — two Slam titles, 5 Slam semifinals, 11 tour titles (together with three 1000s and a WTA Finals win in 2024) — and she or he nonetheless hasn’t fully harnessed her whole recreation but. She received the French Open and Wuhan titles in 2025 and received 75% of her matches regardless of double-faulting 10% of the time, simply essentially the most of anybody within the WTA high 50. If she ever finds the service movement she’s searching for, then she rockets straight to Finest within the World standing.
2. Amanda Anisimova
Age: 24
Present WTA rank: 3 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 5
Anisimova was the story of the yr in 2025, rising from thirty sixth to fourth and reaching 5 finals, together with Wimbledon and the US Open. Her excessive humanness was on show, each within the poise she confirmed in addressing the group after her 6-0, 6-0 loss to Swiatek within the Wimbledon closing and in her revenge win over Swiatek within the US Open semis. Her backhand is likely to be my favourite stroke in tennis, and her serve improved dramatically. She has every little thing she must maintain her 2025 breakthrough.
3. Jessica Pegula
Age: 31
Present WTA rank: 6 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 6
After lastly reaching a Slam closing on the 2024 US Open, Pegula battled by a bumpy 2025, profitable simply 5 matches at her first three Slams. However she nonetheless rose from seventh on the finish of 2024 to sixth thanks to 6 finals appearances, three titles, a US Open semifinal run (she was achingly near beating Sabalenka, too) and late-year wins over Sabalenka (Wuhan) and Gauff (Riyadh). She has the final word high-floor recreation, and she or he reminded us late in 2025 that her upside continues to be awfully excessive, too.
4. Iva Jovic
Age: 18
Present WTA rank: 35 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 55
This rating is likely to be infinitely too aggressive, however I am going for it. Jovic started 2025 on the lower-level ITF circuit however completed it nearly within the high 30 after profitable matches at three of 4 Slams and taking the Guadalajara title in September. We nonetheless do not know every little thing we have to find out about her upside; she performed 4 top-20 opponents in 2025 (Rybakina and Jasmine Paolini twice every) and took just one set. However she was 3-0 towards the remainder of the highest 50. That is a great signal. She already has one of many tour’s higher returns, and if her energy and serve develop as she matures, she’s sure for large issues.
5. Madison Keys
Age: 30
Present WTA rank: 7 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 11
It is laborious to determine Madison Keys in the meanwhile. She was nearly the most effective participant on this planet early in 2025, profitable 18 of her first 19 matches and pocketing her first Slam title with a dramatic win over Sabalenka in Australia. However her kind and focus waned from there; she misplaced 5 matches to gamers ranked outdoors the highest 80, 4 in straight units, and nagging harm troubles contributed to a run of 4 straight losses to finish the yr. Can Keys rediscover her drive and focus after a late-career Slam breakthrough?
6. Emma Navarro
Age: 24
Present WTA rank: 15 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 32
Navarro encountered fairly the sophomore stoop following her top-10 breakthrough in 2024. (Once you get the tour’s consideration, the tour has the tendency to boost its recreation towards you.) She made her third straight Slam quarterfinal look in Australia however received simply 4 Slam matches the remainder of the yr and went 2-5 towards top-10 opponents. Nonetheless, three of these 5 losses had been three-setters, and she or he beat Swiatek in Beijing within the fall. The upside and precision are nonetheless there, and she or he’s a strong rebound candidate.
7. McCartney Kessler
Age: 26
Present WTA rank: 31 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 29
She’s nonetheless ready for a Slam breakthrough, however the former Florida Gator loved a gentle rise from 67th to thirty first in 2025, profitable a pair of titles (Hobart and Nottingham); scoring wins over Gauff (in Dubai) and Mirra Andreeva (Montreal); and almost beating Qinwen Zheng and Karolina Muchova as properly. She crafts factors properly — the longer some extent goes, the higher for Kessler — however we’ll be taught loads about her uncooked upside this yr.
8. Julieta Pareja
Age: 16
Present WTA rank: 345 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 212
Pareja clearly has a protracted option to go, however she made her WTA debut in Bogota in Could and instantly grew to become the youngest tour-level semifinalist since Gauff. Her forehand and return recreation are already excessive degree, and her serve has loads of time to catch up. Clearly that is an aggressive rating for a participant with 11 profession tour matches (and 0 top-100 wins), however bear in mind her identify for the long run.
9. Sofia Kenin
Age: 24
Present WTA rank: 28 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 53
Other than perhaps Jelena Ostapenko, nearly no participant within the ladies’s recreation defines a match like Kenin. As Ben Rothenberg of the Bounces e-newsletter wrote in August, she will get aced way over another high participant, and she or he wins by far the fewest return factors, too. She’s all the time guessing and trying to finish factors, enjoying a mode that scored her a pair of top-10 wins and almost took down Sabalenka in Rome. It might probably additionally get her bageled: She misplaced 6-0, 6-0 to Gauff in Miami, and she or he each received and misplaced a 6-0 set towards Paolini. The fascinating former Australian Open champion has a very excessive ceiling and a very low flooring.
10. Caty McNally
Age: 24
Present WTA rank: 63 | Present Tennis Summary rank: 60
After two years battling elbow points, McNally, a two-time US Open finalist in doubles, took a robust step ahead in 2025. After stockpiling factors on the ITF circuit, she took the Newport title in July, beating grass-court specialist Tatjana Maria within the closing, and she or he took Swiatek (at Wimbledon), Keys (Montreal) and Rybakina (Beijing) to 3 units as properly. It isn’t too late for a breakthrough.
Different potential breakthrough candidates: Ann Li (present WTA rating: 37), Ashlyn Krueger (49), Hailey Baptiste (65), Peyton Stearns (50), Danielle Collins (62), Alycia Parks (101), Taylor Townsend (116), Clervie Ngounoue (192)
