Analytics & Stats ATP
Courier’s theory: Why Djokovic might push past 2025 for one more Australian return
Courier feels Djokovic may delay retirement to return to Australia and finish with dignity. in 2026.
Novak Djokovic’s plans for retirement have been a recurring subject through much of 2025. Former world No 1 Jim Courier offered a reason why the Serbian may not finish this year, suggesting a final trip to Australia could change his timeline.
Djokovic, 38, has limited his schedule this season, skipping most ATP Tour events and concentrating on Grand Slams. That selective approach delivered strong results: the most successful male player of all-time reached the semi-finals of the first three majors this season despite a lack of match practice. Djokovic has been open about his motivation, saying his career extension is driven by one objective: “to win a 25th Grand Slam title and claim the record for the most major title wins.” He added, “Biological age is not something that I guess you can reverse,” said Djokovic. “I still feel like I have a game left in me, you know to play at the highest level.
“As I said before several times, as long as I have that feeling of really that that level is still alive, I feel like I want to keep going and I want to keep pushing myself to see whether I can have a shot at another Slam.
“I’m asking myself questions, of course, more nowadays than I have ever before in terms of, how long do I want to keep going at this level? How do I want to approach my schedule to kind of extend my career?”
“I might get a little bit more philosophical again when I finish the tournament, but I’ll try to focus on the next challenge here.”
Courier, watching Djokovic beat Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the US Open quarter-finals, pointed to the Australian Open episode last January as a possible reason to continue. He said: “My personal feeling, and it’s not rooted in any facts, just feelings,” said Courier. “My feeling is that Djokovic had such a bad taste in his mouth leaving his most successful tournament when he had to stop playing because he was seriously injured in the semi-finals.
“He played a competitive set against (Alexander) Zverev, lost it and then shook hands. Then he, the ten-time champion, was booed off court and it was Zverev who had to defend his honour in a post-match interview. It was not well done by the crowd.
“So my view is he would want to go back and play Australia at least one more time and get a proper send off. That’s what I want for him. I don’t know if that’s what he wants.
“Can you imagine (Roger) Federer playing at Wimbledon, he had to default and the fans boo him? Can you imagine? The same with (Rafa) Nadal at Roland Garros. “Ten times that Djokovic has won that tournament in Australia. No one is even close. It was wild.”
If Djokovic lifts a 25th major at the US Open final, an immediate retirement announcement would not surprise many. If he loses — whether in the quarter-final to Taylor Fritz, a potential semi against Carlos Alcaraz, or a final with Jannik Sinner — the debate over his next step will only intensify.
Analytics & Stats Player News WTA
Anisimova Enters WTA Top 3 and Becomes the New American No. 1
Amanda Anisimova rises to No. 3 in the WTA rankings and becomes the top American player. ©Prange2025
Amanda Anisimova rises to a career-high No. 3 in the latest WTA rankings, marking her first appearance inside the Top 3 and establishing her as the top-ranked American player. She moves up from No. 4 while Coco Gauff drops from No. 3 to No. 4, a swap driven by this week’s points adjustments.
There were no tournaments last week, but points from Week 1 of 2025 have dropped off the rankings. Anisimova remains on 6,287 ranking points. Gauff’s total falls from 6,763 to 6,273 after last year’s United Cup results are removed. The net effect places Anisimova ahead of Gauff and makes her the highest-ranked American on either the ATP or WTA lists; Gauff is now the second-highest-ranked American.
Anisimova’s climb carries additional historical notes. She becomes just the third player born in the 2000s to reach the Top 3 in WTA history, and the fifth player born in that decade to achieve a Top 3 ranking across either the WTA or ATP. She is also the 15th American woman to reach the Top 3 since WTA rankings began in 1975. For context, 11 American men have reached the Top 3 since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973.
Other notable ranking changes this week include Linda Noskova moving from No. 13 to a personal best of No. 12. Clara Tauson slips from No. 12 to No. 14; Noskova lost her second match in Brisbane a year ago while Tauson won the Auckland title at the same time last season. Cristina Bucsa makes her Top 50 debut, rising from No. 51 to No. 50. Anastasia Potapova drops from No. 50 to No. 55; Bucsa lost in the first round in Brisbane last year while Potapova reached the third round.
© 2025 Robert Prange
Analytics & Stats Player News WTA
Hsieh Su-wei at 40: Four decades distilled into 40 defining numbers
Hsieh Su-wei turns 40: 40 milestones from No. 1 doubles weeks to Grand Slam and tour titles. Today!
Hsieh Su-wei celebrates her 40th birthday with a resume few peers can match. A concise selection of career milestones captures the arc of a player who has excelled in doubles, enjoyed late-career singles highlights and returned to the tour with sustained success.
She first reached No. 1 in doubles on May 12, 2014, becoming the first Taiwanese player to reach the top spot in tennis in either women’s or men’s, singles or doubles. She claimed two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024 alongside Jan Zielinski; those were their first and third tournaments together. Her three WTA singles titles came in 2012 (Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou) and 2018 (Hiroshima).
Hsieh has won Grand Slam women’s doubles titles with four different partners: two with Peng Shuai, and one each with Barbora Strycova, Elise Mertens and Wang Xinyu. She has five Wimbledon titles, including four in women’s doubles (2013 with Peng, 2019 with Strycova, 2021 with Mertens and 2023 with Strycova) and one mixed in 2024 with Zielinski.
Her WTA Finals record features six appearances and a title in 2013 with Peng; she reached the semifinals in 2025 with Jelena Ostapenko. Across Grand Slams she owns seven women’s doubles majors, plus two mixed doubles majors. Indian Wells stands out among her 13 WTA 1000 doubles titles, winning it four times in 2014 (with Peng), 2018 (with Strycova), 2021 and 2014 (with Mertens).
Other highlights: she has 36 doubles wins in 2025 (36-18), 37 career tour-level doubles titles (35 women’s, two mixed), and 40 career tour-level titles overall (three singles, 35 women’s doubles and two mixed). She spent 59 weeks at No. 1 in doubles and is one of only 18 women to log 50 or more weeks at the top. Her Top 10 and Top 15 singles victories mostly arrived in her 30s, including her first Top 10 singles win at Roland Garros in 2017 and a landmark win over reigning No. 1 Simona Halep at Wimbledon in 2018.
Early markers include a perfect 30-0 start below tour level at 15 in 2001 and her first Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon in 2013. She retired from singles in 2024 after Miami. Hsieh is the top seed in doubles in Brisbane this week alongside Jelena Ostapenko.
Analytics & Stats ATP Player News
Alcaraz Tops 2025 ATP Earnings List and Clears $60 Million in Career Prize Money
Alcaraz tops 2025 ATP prize money with over $21 million and passes $60 million career total. Update
The ATP’s final prize money standings for 2025 confirm a season dominated by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz led the tour with more than $21 million in prize money for the year, while Sinner followed with north of $19 million. World No. 3 Alexander Zverev ranked third on the list with $7.5 million.
Alcaraz’s 2025 total is the second-highest single-season haul in ATP history, behind only Novak Djokovic’s 2015 figure. Sinner’s earnings for 2025 also produced a milestone: he became the first player to exceed $19 million in a season and the first to top $16 million in two different seasons.
Beyond the single-season figures, Alcaraz’s 2025 earnings pushed his career prize money past $60 million. That achievement marks him as the first player, male or female, born since 2000 to reach that level. The draft also notes that he is the first player born since 1988 to pass the $60 million mark.
The final prize money leaderboard underlines the financial gap at the very top of men’s tennis in 2025, with the two leading players combining for the bulk of top-year payouts. The published top-10 list for 2025 places Alcaraz and Sinner well clear of the next tier, with Zverev as the highest earner after them.
These numbers frame a season in which prize money concentrated at the top for a small group of players. Alcaraz’s performance in 2025 not only reinforced his place as the year’s top earner but also cemented a rapid climb in career earnings, while Sinner’s consistency produced an unprecedented dual-season benchmark in annual pay.
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