Which February development on the WTA and ATP Tours was the most significant? 

In tennis, February has a reputation for being full of sound and fury, but not signifying a whole lot.

With no majors or dual-gender 1000s, its 28 days are crammed with more mid-level and low-level events than any other. The players dash from Rotterdam to Rio to Doha to Delray, and stop at many points in between. All of that activity is fun for the diligent fan; there’s tennis on our TVs from morning to night. The downside is that none of the tournaments, on their own, have top-tier prestige. When we look back at the end of the year, the results from this month rarely figure into the story of the season.

Recently, though, February has been the starting point for bigger developments down the road. In 2022, Carlos Alcaraz won his first 500 in Rio, and Iga Swiatek began the 37-match win streak that lifted to her to No. 1. In 2023, Daniil Medvedev began a run that netted him four titles in five events. In 2024, Jasmine Paolini’s meteoric rise to stardom started with her victory in Dubai.

Will we look back at the end of 2025 and see that any bigger developments like those began this month? Here are five possibilities, listed in ascending order of potential importance.

U.S. women spring surprises

Ashlyn Krueger, 20, reached her first 500 final, in Abu Dhabi. Amanda Anisimova, 23, won her first 1000 title, in Doha. McCartney Kessler, 25, made a pair of quarterfinals, beat Coco Gauff, and cracked the Top 60.

The cast of WTA contenders from the States is already a large one. Will any of these women add themselves to it in 2025? Anisimova is the most talented ball-striker, and someone who can out-hit any opponent on any given day; she has already gone deep at majors. By the time the month was over, though, I found myself most impressed with Kessler, and her ability to compete. Her baseline attack is no-frills, but she plays it with a relentless mix of aggression and intensity.

Denis Shapovalov comes to life

It wasn’t the fact that the Canadian won a title in Dallas. He had done that a couple of times before. It was the way he won it. After years of injury, inconsistency, and seeming burnout, the former prodigy thoroughly out-played a series of Top 25 opponents—Taylor Fritz, Tomas Machac, Tommy Paul, Casper Ruud. He has continued along those lines in Acapulco this week. Shapovalov, who was once a Wimbledon semifinalist, is still just 25, and still hits the ball as big as anyone. Maybe his wilderness years are over.

Alexander Zverev doesn’t gain ground down South

At the ATP Finals last fall, Zverev made a comment that caught my eye. Asked how he felt while watching Jannik Sinner receive the award for finishing the season No. 1, the German said, “We’ll see who’s going to receive that trophy next year.” Was that a veiled show of ambition? Did he think he would be No. 1 in 2025?

Zverev didn’t help himself by losing badly to Sinner in the Australian Open final. But with the Italian suspended for three months, Zverev tried to make up ground by playing three Golden Swing events, including two 500s. Was it worth the effort? He failed to make the semifinals at any of them. In the end, rather than getting closer to Sinner at No. 1, he may have shown his AO loss to him is going to linger.

Joao Fonseca keeps wowing us

Every week is a learning experience for an 18-year-old. What did Fonseca learn during his first ATP-level title run, in Bueno Aires? For one, he may never play the week before the tournament in his hometown of Rio de Janiero again. The Brazilian was so exhausted by his efforts in Buenos Aires, which included a series of tough wins over Argentine opponents, that he had nothing left for the fans at home, and lost in the first round.

In all seriousness, though, by winning in Buenos Aires, Fonseca showed that he’s going to be a multi-surface threat, and that he already combines the poise of a veteran with the fearlessness of a teenager. There will be ups and downs in the months and seasons ahead, but that’s a potent combination.

Mirra Andreeva rises, as Swiatek, Sabalenka, and Gauff stumble

Andreeva’s 6-3, 6-3 win over Swiatek in Dubai came and went without a ton of fanfare. As I said above, it’s February, and it didn’t happen on Centre Court or Ashe or Chatrier. But could it be an early warning bell that a change at the top of the WTA is coming? The most impressive match I’d seen the 17-year-old Andreeva play up until then was her three-set loss to Swiatek last summer in Cincinnati; despite the defeat, she showed that she could stay with Iga. Now she’s shown that she can beat her convincingly, and follow through with a significant title.

At this point, it’s virtually impossible to imagine that Andreeva won’t be a multiple Grand Slam winner in the future. But how quickly will that future come? None of the Top 3 women—Swiatek, Sabalenka, or Gauff—were all that impressive in February. Now Andreeva, who has entered the Top 10 for the first time, is a little closer in their rearview mirror.