The past year has brought many exciting events in the tennis world and paved the way for the next season.

 FERRERO IS GONE

Just a week after being honoured by the ATP officially 'The Coaches of the Year', aCarlos Alcaraz's team has seen its numbers halve with the departure of Juan Carlos Ferrero. Ferrero, who began working with Alcaraz in 2018 and was instrumental in all 24 of his title wins, including six Grand Slams, has concluded his coaching relationship with the world No. 1. While the reasons behind this decision were not specified, the parties expressed mutual gratitude. However, Alcaraz noted that if their paths were destined to divide, doing it at the peak was the best moment. Meanwhile, Ferrero emphasised his desire to continue coaching, though it is not clear yet whom the Spaniard will train next. The only thing that is obvious now is that Alcaraz's second coach Samuel Lopez will remain in his team, and Carlitos's elder brother, Alvaro, may take a more important role. He previously traveled as a sparring partner.

WIMBLEDON TITLE FOR ŚWIĄTEK

Iga Świątek can achieve a career Grand Slam in January 2026. For this, she has to secure a victory at A0-2026, a tournament where she has never progressed beyond the semifinal stage. It is a hard task to accomplish, but her 2025 Wimbledon victory, including a decisive 6-0, 6-0 win against Amanda Anisimova in London, serves as proof that seemingly impossible feats can be accomplished, particularly for those who doubted her after a inconsistent start to the season. The past year was tough, but not disastrous for Iga; she ended up the season as the world #2, claimed three titles, reached the mixed final at the US Open. Most interestingly, Iga has become the fourth player in history to end four consecutive seasons with the most WTA victories ( 2022 - 67, 2023 - 68, 2024 - 64, 2025 - 63). Previously only such legends as Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Steffi Graf had achieved this milestone.

 NOVAK DJOKOVIC AND HIS ENCHANTED 25TH SLAM

Novak Djokovic dedicated his off-season to preparation for an ambitious goal: securing his 25th Grand Slam title. The Serb engaged in various activities, from attending the F-1 races in Qatar and appearing on podcasts, to training in the academy run by Janko Tipsarević in Athens and consulting with physiotherapist Mark Kovac, who specializes in biometric monitoring, injury prevention, and rehabilitation, among other things. The moment the 38-year-old Nole entered the Adelaide tournament in January, it was evident he was back on the hunt for another major. However, the prior season was not the most successful for Nole by his standards. He retired injured in the AO-2025 semifinal against Zverev, lost to Sinner in the Roland Garros and Wimbledon semifinals, and suffered a defeat against Alcaraz at the US Open. The titles in Geneva and Athens can barely lift his spirit as he currently pursues the one goal which is to surpass Margaret Court, who also holds 24 Grand Slam singles titles.

 SOBOLENKO THE DOMINATOR

 First&Red ambassador Arina Sobolenko was named WTA Player of the Year and ITF World Champion in the past few days. The 27-year-old Belarusian finished the season ranked world number one for the second time in her career. Throughout the season, Arina was a dominant force on the tour, securing four titles, reaching nine WTA finals, and accumulating $15,008,519 in prize money along with 10,870 points. There were some letdown moments for her as well: the losses in the AO and Roland Garros finals, a defeat in the WTA finals, and a stumble in the Wimbledon semifinal. But in most of the cases the outcome for Arina could have been completely different. With these stats in mind, a hat-trick of AO titles appears highly likely for her.

ALCARAZ VS SINNER

 Over the last season, this tandem emerged as the top performers on the tour, creating their own Big-2. They won the most titles (eight for the Spaniard, six for the Italian), earned the most prize money ($18,803,427 and $19,120,641, respectively), and secured the most ranking points (12 050 & 11 500). To fully understand the level of these two, consider the statistic: Louiss Dassin, ranked 1000 in the ATP, and Alexander Zverev, the current world #3, are separated by 5143 points. In contrast, Zverev trails world #2 Jannik Sinner by 6340 points, and Alcaraz by 6890! points . Last season, Sinner and Alcaraz competed against each other six times. The Spaniard won four of their matches, including the finals of Roland Garros and the US Open. Meanwhile, Sinner triumphed at Wimbledon and in Turin, where he claimed his second consecutive ATP Finals title. Each year, the rivalry between Jannik and Carlos grows more prominent, intense, and global. Therefore, there is no reason to be surprised if their dominance continues in 2026.