Coco Gauff closed 2025 at world No. 3, completing a run of three consecutive year-end Top 3 finishes that makes her the youngest woman this century to do so. At 21, Gauff has already collected two Grand Slam titles — the US Open in 2023 and Roland Garros in 2025 — and she added the WTA Finals in 2024 to a three-season stretch that produced one headline title each year.

Her trio of year-end No. 3 finishes — 2023, 2024 and 2025 — follows a breakthrough trajectory that started well before those seasons. Since her run to the fourth round of Wimbledon as a 15-year-old in 2019, Gauff has repeatedly set age-related milestones, including becoming the youngest American woman this century to reach a major final at Roland Garros in 2022 and then the youngest American woman this century to win a major at the US Open in 2023. This year she also became the first American player to win Roland Garros in a decade.

Only seven other players have recorded three or more straight Top 3 finishes on the WTA rankings since 2000, and Gauff is the eighth to reach that span. Her presence atop the standings has coincided with an unusual stability at the very top of the WTA: for the third straight year, the year-end Top 3 was occupied by the same three players, Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka. That grouping marks the first time this century that the identical trio finished the year in the Top 3 for three consecutive seasons, and only the third time that has occurred since the WTA rankings began in 1975.

Additional ranking milestones this season included Sabalenka becoming just the third woman this century to hold the No. 1 ranking from the first week of the year through the final week, after Serena and Barty, and Swiatek becoming the second woman this century to finish in the Top 2 for four straight years, after Serena.

Leylah Fernandez could not hide her excitement when Venus Williams agreed at the last minute to join her as a wild-card doubles partner at the US Open. The pairing, announced the day after Williams lost to Karolina Muchova, made Fernandez just the 10th player other than Serena to team up with Venus.

The 45-year-old Williams had been one of the summer’s biggest stories. After becoming the second-oldest woman to win a WTA main-draw match when she defeated Peyton Stearns in Washington, D.C., she arrived in New York having spent 16 months on the sidelines and was pain-free for the first time. Williams entered three events in all, starting with the reimagined mixed doubles event with Reilly Opelka and competing in women’s singles as well.

After going 0-2 in the mixed and singles draws, and pushing Muchova to a three-set match inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, Venus’ decision to pair with Fernandez produced one of the tournament’s most memorable feel-good stories. Fernandez recalled her reaction plainly: “I was like a kid on Christmas day just jumping around. I was so happy. I don’t think I stopped smiling for the whole night and even in the morning. I was just super happy and excited. Leylah Fernandez”

The wild-card duo won three consecutive matches and energized Flushing Meadows for more than a week, their on-court chemistry obvious. Williams described how the opportunity came about in a recent vlog: “I wasn’t going to play, then apparently Leylah’s partner pulled out at the last minute,” the former world No. 1 recalled in a recent vlog posted on her YouTube channel. “I walked off the court after my singles match thinking I can finally relax. I played the best I could, I was proud of my efforts, and I never really feel that way, but I was already kind of out. The next thing I know, it’s like ‘Can you play?

“I was thinking no, because whenever I would play with players in the past, they would get so tight, they just weren’t able to perform, so I don’t need that in my life. But on the way home, I was like, maybe I’ll give it a try.”

Their run ended against No. 1 seeds Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova, but the partnership left a clear mark on the tournament and on Fernandez herself.

Mirra Andreeva has added a new member to her household, introducing fans to a puppy named Rassy after an 18-month search and a pair of breakthrough seasons. Her mother had promised a dog as a reward for reaching the Top 20 in 2024, a benchmark Andreeva secured last fall by reaching the 2024 China Open quarterfinals.

“Andreeva posted the new arrival with the caption: “Our girl Rassy🥰🐾🦴🐶🤭” on her official Instagram page.

The player had delayed getting a dog until she could find the right one. In March she described the kind of animal she was seeking: “I’m thinking to get an ultra mini labradoodle,” she said back in March. “It’s going to be a Labrador mixed with poodle, and it’s ultra mini, so going to be even smaller than a mini version.

“It’s going to take time until the dog that I want will be born. We wait for now.”

Andreeva, 18 years old, continued to shape the plan even as her ranking climbed. She improved on her 2024 Top 20 season, ultimately peaking at No. 5 after back-to-back WTA 1000 titles at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the BNP Paribas Open. All the while she was focused on the details of the pet she wanted.

“I’m thinking to get a girl, because the girls are basically they’re a bit smaller in the size, so it’s gonna be easier to travel with a girl,” she said. “At first I wanted to get a boy, so I came up with a couple of names for a boy, but then we decided to get a girl,” she added. “There are not many options, and I’m not even sure that the options I have are going to be the actual name. So, I cannot really name any. I will have to think about it!”

The arrival of Rassy appears to have met Andreeva’s hopes. The pair recently posed together in a winter-themed photoshoot shared with followers.