The tennis off-season is always a time for reflection, as fans and pundits debate their favourite matches of the year, while the ATP and WTA Tours dish out awards to players who had impressive seasons. But the players themselves are arguably best-placed to judge who among them had a standout run. And they all seem to be in agreement.

A group of ATP stars have declared Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner’s Grand Slam finals among the best matches of 2025 when crowning their own personal award-winners with Express Sport.

Alcaraz and Sinner’s epic five-set thriller in the French Open final earned recognition from Ugo Humbert, Francisco Cerundolo, Tomas Machac and David Goffin, while Casper Ruud went rogue and picked a different championship match.

Ruud also gave a shoutout to Iga Swiatek, who won her sixth Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, despite being pigeon-holed as something of a “clay” specialist. And Jack Draper, Joao Fonseca and Jakub Mensik also made an impression on their rivals. Five tennis stars share their own award winners below…

Which player(s) impressed you this year?

Ugo Humbert: “I think Carlos and Jannik are both incredible. They were in the four Grand Slam finals. It was fun to watch them, they are unbelievable, they play great tennis. It’s inspiring.”

Francisco Cerundolo: “I think there are a couple of players. I think what Draper did the first four, five months, before his injury, was fantastic. He was playing really amazing. I think Fonseca also made a huge improvement. I think at the beginning of the year, he was outside the top 100, and now he ended up 25 in the world or something like that, so I think his jump was huge.”

Casper Ruud: “I would say maybe Iga winning Wimbledon was probably a surprise to many. She’s been kind of stamped as a clay-court player, she’s won Roland Garros four times, so to win Wimbledon is a little bit surprising for a ‘clay’ player, if you can call it that. So I would say that was really, really impressive.”

Tomas Machac: “I think there are a few players, of course, that made lots of great results. I think Fonseca is going up and up. I played against him in US Open, it was a very difficult match and I think he’s improving every week, so I think I pick this one.”

David Goffin: “A lot of players, of course the best two players in the world, if you say Jannik and Carlos. I think they continued to improve, they won a lot of matches. I loved also to see Jakub Mensik winning first Masters 1000 Alcaraz and Sinner agreement reached by rivals as Swiatek singled out | Tennis | Sport in Miami. I think he’s really young and he won already a Masters 1000, so we’ll see him in the future for sure.”

Favourite match you watched this year?

Humbert: “Alcaraz vs Sinner in the Roland Garros final.”

Cerundolo: “I will choose French Open finals, Carlos and Jannik. I think that, by far, was the best match of the year. They brought tennis to another level.”

Ruud: “It’s tempting to say the French Open final but I’m actually going to go US Open final because I watched it and it was so intense and they were just ripping the ball. Carlos is fast, but I’ve never seen him that fast. I mean, he got to everything. And it was just really, really cool to watch.”

Machac: “I think it was Alcaraz with Sinner, French Open final. I don’t like to watch tennis on the TV, this match I just sit two, three hours, and I just watch.”

Goffin: “The French Open finals, Jannik and Carlos. I think it was a long match with great intensity, amazing points, amazing rallies. So I think it was really exciting to see.”

Favourite match you played this year?

Humbert: “Against [Taylor] Fritz in Basel.”

Cerundolo: “Probably I would say against Jakub Mensik in Madrid quarter-finals because it was a match to pass to the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 there and I was one set down and really close to losing, and I fought back. It was a really good match, really tough match, really exhausting. And it was, not a revenge, but in Miami, one month [earlier], I had a match point in the quarter-finals to pass to the semi-finals and I lost it. So it was like, okay, relief.”

Ruud: “I would maybe say final of Stockholm. I just played maybe the best match of the year in the final, and Stockholm is quite close to Norway. I had a lot of Norwegian friends there, and family. Even Royalty from Sweden was there watching, so it was a good time to bring out the A-game.”

Machac: “2025, favourite match… I think final of Acapulco with [Alejandro Davidovich] Fokina.”

Goffin: “Favourite match I played this year was the match I won against Carlos Alcaraz in Miami. I played some great tennis but he was a little bit struggling with his confidence, maybe. And then after that, he started to win tournaments in Monaco I think on the clay, and then I think we know how well he played after that! But I think it was a tough moment for him, that match, but after that, he had an amazing reaction [through] to the end of the year.”