Ekaterina Alexandrova is proving that it's never to late to learn something new

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Ekaterina Alexandrova in 2025, by the numbers

• Wins/Losses: 47-25
• Grand slam record: 9-4
• Australian Open: 1R
• Roland Garros: 4R
• Wimbledon: 4R
• US Open: 4R
• Titles: 1
• Finals: 4
• Year-end Ranking: No. 10

Why she may have been overlooked in 2025

For the first decade of her career, Ekaterina Alexandrova belonged to one particular class of WTA players: a flashy shot-maker, with the ability to pull off the occasional big win (take the 6-4, 6-2 triumph over then-world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the 2024 Miami Open as a chief example), but never someone who had the consistency, between the lines or the ears, to challenge the top.

That all changed in 2025, as the Russian-born Czechia resident put together the finest season of her career, which culminated in a best-ever ranking and a year-end Top 10 finish.

After starting the season just 1-3, Alexandrova caught a fire in February that never extinguished by first storming to her first WTA 500-level title in Linz. She followed that up with a semifinal effort in Doha, where she outlasted world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a dramatic third-set tiebreaker, and in all, reached the quarterfinals or better at 11 tournaments.

While none of those came at majors (she reached the fourth round at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open), Alexandrova became more than just a big hitter in 2025.

“I think I’m trying to play more conservatively in some moments so I can better prepare my shots,” Alexandrova said during the US Open. “It’s not like it used to be where, the first opportunity I would have, I’d hit super hard no matter what is going on on the court. Now, I’m trying to make better shot selections, even if it means keeping the rally going long. I’m able to wait for better opportunities to hit the shot.

"I think it’s working that much better than hitting everything and going for every single one, just hoping for the best."

Why she may be someone to watch in 2026

After becoming the third-oldest woman to break into the WTA's Top 10 for the first time in the Open Era in October, the biggest question facing Alexandrova in 2026 is: What's her next act?

Will the 31-year-old use her new position to push for even greater highs—namely, a first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal berth, or beyond—or will next season see a regression back to the mean?

But there's no reason to think that the form she showed over the last 12 months is a flash in the pan, thanks in large part to the fresh perspective she's found with coach and former ATP pro Igor Andreev, whom she hired in November of 2024.

"He sees the game differently," she said at Wimbledon, crediting Andreev for bringing more variety to her game.

"The more I was trying to do it, the more I was able to see that you can always find something."

And with it, she also proved that it's never too late to learn something new.