Alizé Cornet has been appointed captain of France’s Billie Jean King Cup team a few months after retiring from tennis a second time earlier this year. The French tennis federation announced the nomination on Sunday, saying Cornet stood out from other candidates because of her “investment in French tennis, her profile, her motivation and her availability.”

The 35-year-old replaces Julien Benneteau, who held the role since 2019. Cornet’s remit will extend beyond the Billie Jean King Cup squad and includes preparing the French Olympic team leading up to the Los Angeles Games in 2028, monitoring national team players during competitions and overseeing youth teams.

“I appreciate the trust the federation has placed in me, and I am determined to do everything I can to help our players reach their full potential,” Cornet said in a statement. “My goal is to build a strong team spirit, based on high standards, solidarity, and a passion for the French jersey.”

Cornet brings the experience of a 20-year professional career to the role. Touted as a young prodigy, she achieved a career-high ranking of No. 11 in 2009 and won six singles titles. Known as a solid baseline player with a strong backhand, she also held the women’s record for most consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played at 69, a streak that ran from the 2007 Australian Open to last year’s French Open.

The federation emphasized Cornet’s availability and motivation when confirming the appointment. Her new duties place her at the centre of France’s national-team planning as preparations begin toward future international events and the 2028 Olympic cycle.

Watch almost any top-level player hit a forehand and you will notice the off-hand is not idle. During the takeback it helps position the racquet and rotate the upper body, creating structure and stored energy to release into the shot. For most players the hands separate during the takeback and the off-arm stays parallel to the net.

The current men’s No. 1 takes a different route. Where most players let go of the racquet’s throat when the off-arm is just about parallel to the net, he holds it until his left hand is even with his hitting shoulder. That retained contact changes how his stroke loads and unloads.

Keeping the off-hand on the racquet longer creates greater upper body tension. Mimic his turn and you can feel the stretch in the lats. The added shoulder rotation builds more stored energy that can be transferred into the swing. Yet the result is not a bigger, slower motion. He turns his shoulders more while maintaining a compact geometry: a bent hitting elbow and the racquet head level with the chest, similar to players who use a more modest shoulder turn.

That combination lets him generate faster swing speed without an exaggerated path. He uncoils with a relatively loose arm and so produces immense racquet head speed without relying on an extreme loop or oversized swing.

He is not a template everyone can copy. Few players can replicate his range of motion, upper body flexibility or world-class timing. Even so, approximating a deeper shoulder coil and delaying the separation of the off-hand can measurably increase the amount of energy available to a forehand. For players and coaches focused on adding speed and consistency, the lesson is clear: the off-hand is an active tool for storing rotation-based power, not merely a balancing aid.

Aryna Sabalenka has secured the 2025 year-end WTA No. 1 ranking, regardless of her result at the WTA Finals in Riyadh. Having finished 2024 at No. 1 as well, she becomes the 13th woman in WTA rankings history to end consecutive seasons at the top.

Sabalenka’s 2025 campaign combined peak moments with relentless consistency. She captured four titles, including the fourth Grand Slam title of her career at the US Open. She also reached four additional finals, among them two major finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

Her form across the season was remarkably steady. Sabalenka advanced to the quarterfinals or better at 13 of the 15 tournaments she played, a run that underpinned her hold on the top ranking from the opening week through the close of the year.

That uninterrupted stretch at No. 1 places her in an even smaller group. She is the seventh player in WTA rankings history to hold the No. 1 ranking for every week of a calendar year, and only the third woman to do so this century, after Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty, who achieved the feat twice each.

The combination of Grand Slam success, four titles, multiple major finals and near-constant deep runs made Sabalenka the season’s defining player. Securing the year-end No. 1 spot for a second straight year confirms a period of sustained excellence and adds a notable chapter to WTA history.

Whatever unfolds at the WTA Finals, the statistical and historical landmarks of Sabalenka’s season are already established. She finishes 2025 as the sport’s year-end No. 1, with a set of achievements that underline both peak performance and remarkable consistency.