A product of Kim Clijsters' academy, where she trained from 2015 until it closed, Elise Mertens plays tennis the tidy way: deep returns, a dependable backhand, and the patience to let opponents crack first. Her singles breakthrough came fast. At the 2018 Australian Open she cut through to the semi-finals, beating Elina Svitolina along the way, and by November that year she stood at a career-high No. 12. She has collected 10 career titles, the tenth of them on the Rosmalen grass in 2025.
Doubles is where she is an all-time force. Mertens owns six Grand Slam doubles titles with four different partners, among them Aryna Sabalenka, also one of her most frequent singles opponents. She first reached doubles No. 1 in May 2021, and a third Australian Open crown in 2026, alongside Zhang Shuai, put her back on top of those rankings. Born in Leuven in 1995, she remains that rare player who contends every week in both draws, a full decade into her career.
Zero. That is how many service games Elena Rybakina dropped in the Ningbo final. She held all 8, saved all 4 break points she faced, and beat Leylah Fernandez 6-2 6-2 on Sunday to win the title for a second year running, while Fernandez converted none of her 4 break points.
Match tale54. That is Qinwen Zheng's ranking, and it did not stop her winning the China Open. The unseeded 24-year-old beat world No. 5 Mirra Andreeva 7-5, 6-4 in Beijing on Sunday, her first title since Tokyo in 2024, and she did it at home.
Match tale