This year’s WTA schedule has been marked by chaos and unpredictability. Following the completion of last week’s Wuhan Open, all the slams and WTA 1000 events have been concluded.
Now we are just waiting to finalize the eight names who will be taking part at this year’s WTA Finals at Indian Wells. Incredibly, there were 12 different winners spread across the 14 elite competitions (four slams and ten WTA 1000’s). Rybakina bookended the season with those wonderful hardcourt triumphs in Melbourne and New York. Sabalenka, meanwhile, bulldozed her way towards victory in both legs of the ‘Sunshine Double’. But every other WTA 1000 and Grand Slam title has been won by a different woman. In celebration of this diversity, here is my ranking of the five most surprising winners of this year’s elite events.
5. WTA 1000: Qatar Open- Karolina Muchova bt Victoria Mboko (6-4, 7-5)
On the surface, this doesn’t seem like an especially surprising outcome. When fully fit, Karolina Muchova is one of the world’s elite players (which she would later prove with her runner-up finish at the Wimbledon Championships). But she hadn’t won a WTA title since 2019! I know, I couldn’t quite believe that. A slew of injury issues has interrupted her ability to accumulate traditional WTA titles (the backbone of a player’s career). But she has still managed to shine through at Grand Slam level, reaching the semifinal stage or better on five occasions. Muchova and her team clearly prioritize the slams when it comes to managing her workload. So, it was something of a surprise to see her finally nab that elusive WTA 1000 title in the pportion of the calendar where she has traditionally missed plenty of tennis.
4. WTA 1000: Madrid Open- Marta Kostyuk bt Mirra Andreeva (6-3, 7-5)
One of women’s tennis’ great entertainers, Marta Kostyuk had long been something of an underachiever on the tour. Plagued by debilitating self-doubt, the backflipping Ukrainian would often capitulate in tight situations. But she worked relentlessly on the mental side of her game in the off-season. Kostyuk had a poor 1-7 record against top-10 players in 2025. But she picked up multiple wins against the elite players in the early portion of the season, accounting for the likes of Swiatek, Pegula and Andreeva. She was surprisingly dominant during the clay-court campaign, winning back-to-back tournaments in Rouen and Madrid. And you couldn’t have planned a better Madrid finale, as Kostyuk beat Russian Mirra Andreeva before eschewing the customary post-match pleasantries (Kostyuk, like Svitolina, is a staunch supporter of Ukraine’s right to sovereignty).
3. Grand Slam: Wimbledon Championships- Linda Noskova bt Karolina Muchova (6-2, 5-7, 6-3)
Yes, I know that Noskova was technically ranked inside the top ten when she claimed her maiden Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. But nobody realistically saw the Czech triumphing in a field that included Rybakina, Gauff, Sabalenka and Swiatek. Noskova’s thrilling victory means there have now been ten different winners in the last decade at SW19 (talk about volatility). Noskova’s run to last year’s WTA 1000 final in Beijing was a bit of harbinger of things to come. The Czech’s brand of first-strike tennis makes her a good fit for grass (as evidenced by her winning Berlin in the lead-in to Wimbledon). Still, she was yet to progress beyond the quarterfinal stage of a slam and there seemed to be too many marquee names to contend with. But she defied the odds, ultimately taking down Karolina Muchova in the first all-Czech women’s Grand Slam final of the Open Era.
2. WTA 1000: China Open- Qinwen Zheng bt Mirra Andreeva (7-5, 6-4)
This will probably go down as the year’s most incredible fairytale story (a Hollywood screenwriter couldn’t have written it better). Zheng exploded onto the tennis scene in 2024, winning Olympic Gold in Paris to go with runner-up finishes at the Aussie Open and WTA Finals. It seemed only a matter of time until she emulated idol Li Na’s Grand Slam-winning feats. But elbow surgery resulted in her plummeting outside the top 100 in the world. But she has enjoyed a remarkable late-season renaissance, coming through qualifying at the US Open before falling to eventual champ Rybakina in the quarters. She then enjoyed a cathartic moment in front of her fanatical home support, taking advantage of a wildcard to claim a maiden WTA 1000 title in Beijing. In so doing, she became the first Chinese woman to win Beijing, and only the 2nd to win a WTA 1000-level event (the other being Li Na, of course).
1. WTA 1000: Wuhan Open- Maya Chwalinska bt Sonay Kartel (2-6, 6-4, 6-2)
And that leads me to my undeniable no.1: Maya Chwalinska. Honestly, I didn’t think that the gritty Polish counterpuncher had it in her. I thought that her herculean run to the French Open final was little more than a fascinating aberration. You know, players couldn’t figure out how to deal with the tricksy little throwback player utilizing all that topspin. She went 4-7 in her next four events, eliminated in the opening round on four occasions. I just couldn’t see the grinder mixing it up with the big-hitting hardcourt monsters. But proved me wrong in Wuhan, beating compatriot Swiatek in the semifinals before a soaring comeback win over fellow surprise package Sonay Kartel. She’s never going to dominate the tour like Swiatek or Sabalenka. But it’s strangely reassuring to know there’s still a place in the game for crafty operators who prioritize tennis IQ over brute strength.
