Women’s professional tennis heads into 2026 facing a real problem: the sport lacks a defining rivalry that can hold the world’s attention. Four different players won the Grand Slams in 2025, which has raised questions among analysts and former pros about whether the women’s tour can develop the kind of matchups that keep fans coming back for the biggest events.
Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner Dominate Men’s Tour While Women’s Titles Remain Scattered
Throughout 2025, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz met six times in major tournaments, and every time they played, it was in a final. Those matches included Alcaraz’s legendary five-hour-and-29-minute win at the French Open and Sinner’s victory at Wimbledon. Fans know that when a men’s major tournament starts, they can expect to see these two competing for the title. That’s the kind of pattern that keeps people watching week after week.
However, the women’s tour is completely different. Instead of two players owning the major championships, four different women won the four Grand Slams in 2025. Madison Keys got her first major at the Australian Open, finally breaking through at age 30. Coco Gauff won her second major at the French Open with a comeback win over the top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka.
Iga Świątek crushed Wimbledon with a 6-0, 6-0 final win over Amanda Anisimova, the first time anyone had won a women’s singles final at the grass-court Major with a double bagel since 1911. Sabalenka finished the year by defending her US Open title and claiming her fourth major.
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Greg Rusedski, the former World No. 4 and tennis analyst, talked about this issue on his podcast. He laid out what he’s seeing: “If 2026 starts with a rivalry, you know, Rybakina is back in the mix now. Madison Keys won her first major this year. Coco Gauff won the French. Sabalenka won the US Open.” His point is that spreading the majors among different players means no one has really stepped up to dominate the way Sinner and Alcaraz are doing on the men’s side.
What Rusedski says women’s tennis is missing is that same repeated matchup that keeps fans tuned in. “And if they’re playing week in week out on the tour, that’s enough for the game. But they’re not fortunate to have that rivalry,” he said.
To make his point clear, Rusedski brought up one of the greatest rivalries ever in any sport. “You had Chrissie-Martina play 80 times. That’s the biggest rivalry in tennis. That’s what they need.”
Without that kind of rivalry, Rusedski thinks the women’s game could lose viewership and commercial momentum. The difference between the tours is pretty stark right now. “On the men’s side, we know that rivalry is between Alcaraz and Sinner. Women’s, it can be anybody at the moment, and we need that sort of matchup to happen for the future,” he said.
Chris Evert-Martina Navratilova Rivalry Established Women’s Tennis
Looking back at Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova shows just how serious Rusedski’s concerns really are. Between 1973 and 1988, these two played each other 80 times, with 60 of those matches being finals. Navratilova won the head-to-head 43-37, but they split the finals 36-24. Playing that many finals against the same person created something special in women’s sports that just doesn’t exist anymore.
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From 1975 on, for more than a decade, one of them was ranked number one almost every week. From 1977 to 1987, when they were one and two in the rankings, almost no one else could beat them both at the same tournament. Between the 1981 Australian Open and the 1985 Wimbledon, they won 15 majors in a row between them.
On the other hand, today’s women’s game is completely opposite. No woman has won two majors in the same calendar year since Serena Williams in 2015, when she won the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon. It’s been almost ten years since any woman has even won two majors in the same year, which shows how spread out the wins have become on the women’s tour.
Rusedski made it clear he’s worried about what this lack of rivalry could do to the women’s sport long-term. His concern is that the women’s tour needs to find two players who can battle each other the way Evert and Navratilova did, or the way Sinner and Alcaraz are doing now.
