Sabalenka dominates, Andreeva rises: Six WTA storylines we're watching as April begins

Aryna Sabalenka lifts her first WTA 1000 Miami Open trophy, and not 48 hours later, the women's clay season is underway in Charleston, South Carolina, and Bogota, Colombia. The first hard-court leg of the calendar year saw new champions, overwhelming upsets, and a resurgence of players in the new era.

Here's what we're watching as April begins a new chapter in the 2025 WTA season:

The Sabalenka & Swiatek Show? Think again

A year ago, it appeared that Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek were distancing themselves from the pack. But while they each remain one and two in the rankings, any distancing movement has greatly slowed. Each lost to teens during the Sunshine Swing, Sabalenka beaten by Mirra Andreeva in the finals of Indian Wells, Swiatek upset by Alexandra Eala in the quarterfinals of Miami and in the semis of Indian Wells to Andreeva.

In Miami, Sabalenka played outstanding tennis to win the title—beating four Top 15 players along the way.

“I'll just have a good vibes only for the next couple of weeks of preparation for the clay courts,” she said following the Miami final. “It's super special.”

Meanwhile, the Swiatek swoon continues. Pondering her frustrating Sunshine Swing, Swiatek said after the Eala defeat, “Well, for sure I don't want to think about it too long. It's nice to learn from losses, but yeah, there are other things ahead, and I'm happy that we're going to play on clay.”

The Andreeva ascent continues

Dub it the Desert Double. In February, the 17-year-old Andreeva won Dubai. In March, she took the title at Indian Wells. There it was, two straight WTA 1000 titles and a 13-match winning streak that was snapped in the third round of the Miami Open by another in-form player, Amanda Anisimova.

Andreeva’s monumental month was highlighted by a win over 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Voundrousova, two versus 2022 Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina, two against Swiatek and, in the finals of Indian Wells, a three-set comeback over Sabalenka. Andreeva also partnered with Diana Shnaider to win the doubles in Miami.

But Andreeva didn’t just capture titles. She captured minds with her extraordinary court sense, eclectic range of shots and, as we’ve seen so often from a precocious prodigy, the fearlessness that accompanies rapid ascent. Give a tip of the hat to Andreeva’s coach, Conchita Martinez. More tactically versatile than many of her contemporaries, Martinez appears to have clicked superbly with Andreeva.

Andreeva’s success validates a comment Jim Courier once made to me: Even if there are fewer teens ranked inside the Top 100 than in prior years, if genius is meant to blossom, it will. This was also demonstrated in Miami by the remarkable run of another Spanish-influenced prodigy, the Nadal Academy-trained 19-year-old Eala.

Read More: Alexandra Eala's breakthrough run to the Miami Open semifinals: 10 of the best stats and records

Coco Gauff’s sunshine struggle

A great end to 2024 and a reasonable run to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open appeared to put Coco Gauff in a good place as 2025 got underway. But since that effort Down Under, Gauff’s match record has been 4-4.

Each stage of her Sunshine Swing ended with frustrating losses—to 58th-ranked Belinda Bencic at Indian Wells and to No. 34 Magda Linette in Miami. The Linette match was punctuated by 12 double-faults.

“It’s just a series of not having great results and feeling confident on the court,” said Gauff in an article that appeared in The Athletic. One hopes she, in time, resolves her serve challenges.

Raducanu Renaissance

In reaching the quarterfinals of the Miami Open, Emma Raducanu won four matches in a tournament for the first time since her run to the 2021 US Open title. Notables she beat along the way included Emma Navarro and Anisimova.

“Circumstances change all the time,” Raducanu said in Miami, “but for me the biggest thing I'm proud of is just finding, I guess, the competitive spirit and being there for every ball and drawing that out of myself. I think that's kind of been missing in the last few months and even few years at times.”

Ranked No. 60 prior to Miami, Raducanu rose a dozen spots to 48, her first time in the Top 50 since September 2022. As the clay court season gets underway, will the confidence generated by a fine Florida fortnight translate into more results?

A Cornet comeback

For reasons you probably don’t want to know, I’ve often had a soft spot for pesky competitors who can flummox opponents with adroit tactics. With that in mind, I was glad to hear about Alize Cornet’s planned return to the WTA Tour, starting at a French clay court event the week of April 14.

In a statement eerily similar to what happened during many of her matches, Cornet said, “You thought you’d got rid of me, but that’s not quite the case yet.”

Read More: Veteran Alizé Cornet to resume tennis career less than a year after retiring

Dare one expect the 35-year-old Cornet to generate significant results? No. But perhaps there’ll be some distinct sparks generated by someone who in 2021 penned an autobiography titled Transcendence: Diary of a Tennis Addict, that included such passages as, “Ah, if youth knew, if age could! That said, the old woman that I am in the business is not yet completely over, and these observations give me a glimpse of hope for the future.”

Disturbing to see dangerous behavior among fans

The world is a difficult place these days. Everything from political tumult to the lingering effects of the pandemic have put many on edge. It’s also arguably added a greater emotional element to the world of sports—a sense that watching athletes gives fans the chance to unwind; but alas, unfortunately, unleash.

It’s been bad enough over the last decade to see all the toxicity directed at tennis players through social media. Then there are recent incidents of players being stalked and harassed during tournaments. Disturbing indeed to see such rude and potentially dangerous behavior. But how to police and preempt it?

Read More: Iga Swiatek given extra security protection at Miami Open after verbal attack: Report