The 2024 season is now already a thing of the past, but of course we still remember vividly how players such as Jack Draper had their breakout season. With the 2025 season already well underway, this begs the question who will join them this year towards the top of the rankings. There are a couple of guys already close, who just need that one final step while others are down below the top-100 and looking to make first strides this year. Here are a few names that might make the news soon.
Zverev’s favorite – Arthur Fils
In a recent podcast, Alexander Zverev was asked the same question and immediately responded with Arthur Fils. The Frenchman is already up in the top-20, but 2024 was a very up and down year for him, where he mainly benefited from not having to defend many points. Yes, he won a couple of tournaments in Hamburg and Tokyo, but he also had early round exits at many bigger events. The 2024 NextGen finals kind of show his problem – if he is feeling it, there are hardly any players with better groundstrokes, but on an off day he will not alter his playstyle much and commit far too many unforced errors. He ended 2024 with a fourth round in Wimbledon, but apart from this never made any noise on the bigger stages, with a 6-9 overall record at Masters.
But if the 20-year-old can get some consistency into his play, he has about every tool to give any player trouble. Zverev spoke to lengths about how Fils’ shots have the most pace and spin on them and how difficult it was to play him then. But on the other hand, it doesn’t seem like he has been working on a plan B game style, with the NextGen finals and Hongkong Open already gone. It will be interesting to see whether he can get past consistency problems and make a deep run into a Masters or Slam.
The Next Gen champion – Joao Fonseca
It seemed like a deja-vu from the time when Alcaraz first stepped on court – rising star Joao Fonseca (image on top) already won everybody’s hearts in Rio last year, where he became the second youngest quarterfinalist ever at ATP500 level. He went on to make some noise on clay, including his first Masters level win at Madrid, where he received a wild card. With his ranking still well below the top-100, he mainly played Challenger events for the remainder of the year, a smart decision by his team earning him a spot at the NextGen finals ultimately.
And we all know how that tournament went for him, with ferocious wins over much higher-ranked players and the subsequent title. Of course, success at that tournament does not always mean an immediate follow-up on the ATP tour, as we have seen with previous champion Hamad Medjedovic. But the level and style of tennis of Fonseca seem to have improved dramatically, with his serve now on par for heavy hitters and a lot of previous gaps already filled. He is currently into another Challenger final in Canberra and will play the Australian Open qualifier next, trying to make his first main draw appearance.
At his current level, he surely isn’t the name you want to see in your first round draw as a seeded player and I would expect him to finish well inside the top-100 this year.
Read more about Fonseca’s racquet.
The next gen serve bot – Giovanni Mpetshi-Perricard
I confess that I don’t particularly enjoy watching most of his matches, but it wouldn’t be a list of promising players without another French youngster. The 21-year-old Mpetshi Perricard towers at 2,03 meters and has a serve that is second to none. But he also moves astonishingly well for a man his size and can defend very well, meaning that you will also have to play longer rallyes against him. Some of his groundstrokes still seem like they have room for improvement, making his two titles and top-30 ranking even more impressive if you think about the ceiling for this young man. If it isn’t for him dropping his level, it is virtually impossible to break him, and he can go all-out on his return games without fearing for big consequences.
If he wants to make an even bigger impact on tour this season, it will all come down to improving his shotmaking from the baseline and fitness for long three or even five set matches. His volleys are already great, being a former junior doubles Grand Slam champion alongside Arthur Fils, and his serve speeds sometimes are above 200 kph on average for the second. It will be interesting to see how he does in Australia, where he will most likely be seeded and have a much better outlook than last year. But the real chance for him will be Wimbledon, where he already has a fourth round run to his name and where is serving will even be more vicious than on his preferred clay court surface. Either way, he will give Ugo Humbert and Arthur Fils a good run for the title of best French player this year and might be up for a deep run at a Slam or two.
Notable mentions
While these three seem to be slotted for a great future, there are of course other players that might improve from their current positions in 2025. Jiri Lehecka is now really back from injury and might just want to pick up from where he was in Madrid prior to injury, challenging for Masters finals. Flavio Cobolli is next in line for the Italian men, and given an improvement on serve and tactics, might be one to watch out for as well.
Further down we have the NextGen finalist Learner Tien, whose unorthodox left-handed game style was a big problem for opponents in Saudi Arabia. And finally, the youngest teenager in the rankings is German Justin Engel, who won his first ATP match last year and will surely look to play more Challenger level tennis in 2025, before taking the bigger steps towards the top.
