Tennis News Round-up - May 2025

The last events of the European clay swing took place, with Madrid and Rome being played out before the start of Roland Garros.

Ruud claims first Masters title, Sabalenka wins

The last few days of the Madrid ATP and WTA 1000 level events took place in May. Coco Gauff beat Iga Swiatek, dropping just two games. Aryna Sabalenka came through against Elina Svitolina to reach the Final, and the world number 1 went on to beat Gauff in the Final in straight sets to take home the title.

On the men’s side, with the absence of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, and with Alex Zverev and Novak Djokovic both losing early, it presented opportunities for other names. Casper Ruud advanced to the Final, winning in two close sets against Francisco Cerundolo. Jack Draper made his second Masters Final of the year, beating Lorenzo Musetti. In a three set Final, Ruud came out on top to claim his first Masters title of his career.

Alcaraz and Paolini triumph in Rome

World number 1 Jannik Sinner made his return to the ATP Tour, having been suspended for 3 months and not played since the Australian Open. It looked like he hadn’t been away, beating Cerundolo in straight sets and then demolishing Madrid champion Ruud, dropping just one game. In the Semi Finals, he lost the opening set to Tommy Paul 6-1, but recovered to advance to the Final.

In the other half, Musetti beat the defending champion Zverev to reach a third consecutive clay Masters Semi Final, where he would face Alcaraz after the Spaniard beat Draper. Alcaraz defeated Musetti to prevent an all-Italian Final. In the first Sinner-Alcaraz contest of 2025, the Spaniard came through a very close first set on a tiebreak, and then ran away with the second to claim his first title in Rome.

Swiatek’s underwhelming season continued in Rome, with a defeat in the Third Round to Danielle Collins. This means she entered Roland Garros without a clay title to her name this year. Sabalenka was beaten in the Quarter Finals by Qinwen Zheng, and Gauff came through against Mirra Andreeva. The Semi Final between Gauff and Zheng was a thriller, with Gauff winning in a third set tiebreak. Peyton Stearns had a memorable run in the Eternal City, beating Madison Keys, Naomi Osaka and Svitolina to reach the Semi Finals. Her run was ended by home favourite Jasmine Paolini. The Italian went on to beat Gauff in the Final in straight sets to win the tournament. 

Big names survive Roland Garros first week

The majority of the highest seeds ensured they stayed in Paris for at least the first week. However, Taylor Fritz exited in the First Round to Daniel Altmaier, and two-time Finalist Ruud was beaten by Nuno Borges in the Second Round. Former Finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas was taken out in the Second Round by qualifier Matteo Gigante. French tennis legend Richard Gasquet’s career ended in the Second Round, with a loss to Sinner. Arthur Fils suffered an injury to his back which forced him to withdraw before his Third Round match, and may see him miss Wimbledon.

All of the top 8 women’s seeds, including Sabalenka, Gauff and Swiatek, made it to the second week of the tournament, meaning we should be in for an enthralling conclusion.

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