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.
Twelve. That is the tiebreak score that sent Karolína Muchová into her first Wimbledon final, saving a match point along the way and beating Coco Gauff 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(10). She will play Linda Nosková, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Marta Kostyuk in the other semi-final, for the title on Saturday. Both finalists are Czech, so whoever wins, the Wimbledon women's trophy is going home with a Czech name on it.
Wimbledon notebookOne point. That is how close Maja Chwalinska came to a first-round win at Wimbledon, a month after she reached the Roland Garros final, before her ankle gave way and the match turned. Mananchaya Sawangkaew, the world No. 164 from Thailand, came back to win 2-6 7-5 6-2.
Match tale