2025 ATP Awards: NBO Power Rankings Panel’s Version

While there is probably little surprise as to who the National Bank Open Power Rankings Panel picked as our Singles Player of the Year (and the runner-up), we delved a bit deeper and handed out a few more awards of our own. But let’s get the obvious one out of the way.

Singles Player of the Year: Carlos Alcaraz

• Record: 71-9
• Titles: 8
• Best Result: Roland-Garros and US Open Champion
• Year-End Ranking: 1 (+2)

In a year defined by two men, Carlos Alcaraz managed to finish 2025 with the most titles and match wins, earning him the Year-End World No. 1 ranking for the second time in his career. The young Spaniard added two more majors to bring his haul to six at the tender age of 22.

Alcaraz’s eight titles, 11 finals, and 71 wins were all career-highs. He was one of two players on the ATP Tour in 2025 to win titles on all three surfaces, achieving the feat for the third year in a row. The Spaniard was also the only player to win a title on clay, grass, outdoor hard courts and indoor hard courts.

Crucially, he won two of three Grand Slam final meetings with rival Jannik Sinner, including his epic comeback in the incredible Roland-Garros final, which is already being considered one of the greatest tennis matches of all time. His rivalry with Sinner was the defining ATP story of 2025, with the Spaniard coming out on top in four out of six meetings.  

Read also: Alcaraz, Sinner Headline Best Stories from 2025 ATP Season

Now, the question is: can Alcaraz become the youngest player to complete the Career Grand Slam next year at the Australian Open?

Other Vote-Getters: Jannik Sinner

Doubles Team of the Year: Julian Cash / Lloyd Glasspool

• Record: 60-17
• Titles: 7
• Biggest Title: Wimbledon
• Year-End Ranking: 1 (Glasspool) / 2 (Cash)

Kicking off 2025 with a title in Brisbane was a sign of things to come for Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool. Four months following more silverware in Doha, the Brits went on a tear once they touched down on home soil, winning the British treble with a title at the Queen’s Club, Eastbourne, and Wimbledon. Their triumph at the All-England Club was the biggest of the duo’s career, dropping just one set en route to the winner’s circle.

Cash and Glasspool brought their 14-match win streak into the National Bank Open in Toronto, seeking their first ATP Masters 1000 title after losing back-to-back finals in Miami and Monte-Carlo earlier in the year. The duo extended their undefeated streak to 18 with a trip to the title match, where they saved three championship points against countrymen Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury to hoist their fourth consecutive ATP trophy.

Read also: Catching up with 2025 NBO Toronto Champion Ben Shelton

The Brits ended the season with more silverware in Vienna, plus a runner-up result in Paris, to secure their place as the top seeds at the ATP Finals. The pair reached the semis in Turin, finishing the year in the Top 2 spots in the ATP doubles rankings.

Other Vote-Getters: Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos, Harri Heliovaara/Henry Patten

Comeback Player of the Year: Félix Auger-Aliassime

• Record: 50-24
• Titles: 3
• Best Result: 3 ATP 250 titles, Masters 1000 Paris runner-up, US Open and ATP Finals semifinals
• Year-End Ranking: 5 (+24)

“Bounce-back” may be a better way to say it than “comeback,” but what a turnaround in 2025 for Félix Auger-Aliassime after a difficult couple of years. The Montrealer had struggled since his breakthrough 2022 season, where he won four titles and broke into the Top 10, but managed to refind that form in 2025, even hitting new heights.

The writing was on the wall early in the season, as he won two of his first three tournaments. However, Auger-Aliassime was alternating between deep runs and early losses. It was not until late summer that the Canadian started to post consistent results and once he got rolling, he was very difficult to stop. Starting with the Cincinnati Open, Auger-Aliassime reached the quarter-finals or better at every event he played for the remainder of the season, seven consecutive tournaments.  

During that stretch, he reached his second Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open, won his third title of the year in Brussels, and reached his second Masters 1000 final in Paris. The strong finish allowed him to qualify for the ATP Finals for the second time in his career, having started the year at No. 29 in the rankings. He went 2-1 in the group stage to reach the semis for the first time and finished the season at a new career-high of No. 5.

From Cincinnati onwards, Auger-Aliassime only lost one completed match (he retired once) against a player not named Sinner or Alcaraz.

Other Vote-Getters: Jenson Brooksby, Reilly Opelka

Most-Improved Player of the Year: Alexander Bublik

• Record: 37-22
• Titles: 4
• Best Result: ATP 500 Halle Champion, Masters 1000 Paris semifinals
• Year-End Ranking: 11 (+22)

Alexander Bublik has been kicking around on tour for several years, showing plenty of flashes of his talent but generally struggling to put up consistent results. That changed in 2025, when Kazakhstani delivered a career year. 

The 28-year-old caught fire in the spring, starting with a career-best run at a major when he reached the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros. Bublik then proceeded to win three of his next four tournaments, scoring a title on grass in Halle and then lifting back-to-back trophies on clay in Gstaad and Kitzbuhel. The latter two wins were part of an 11-match winning streak that stretched to the fourth round of the US Open.

His fourth title of the year came on hard court in Hangzhou in September, making him the second player in 2025 after Alcaraz to win a title on all three surfaces. The Kazakhstani finished with one more career-best result, reaching the semifinals of a Masters 1000 for the first time in Paris. Having never finished a season inside the Top 30 before, and falling as low as No. 82 in March, Bublik wrapped up the year at his career-high ranking of No. 11.

Other Vote-Getters: Learner Tien, Ben Shelton

Breakthrough of the Year: Valentin Vacherot

• Record: 15-4
• Titles: 1
• Best Result: ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai Champion
• Year-End Ranking: 31 (+109)

World No. 204 Valentin Vacherot fully embraced China’s “Magic City” when he set foot in Shanghai, shocking the tennis world in just his fourth ATP Masters 1000 appearance. After cruising through the opening round, the Monegasque’s magic powered him to three comeback wins – two coming over Top 20 players Alexander Bublik and Holger Rune – on his path to the biggest match of his career in the semifinal.

Vacherot stood across the net from the great Novak Djokovic, but not even the 24-time major winner could put a stop to the Monegasque’s breakthrough. Vacherot stunned Djokovic in straight sets, becoming the first player ranked outside the Top 200 to reach a Masters 1000 final.

The 27-year-old’s magical run had a fairytale ending, coming back from a set down once again to defeat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech for the title. The triumph brought Vacherot up 164 spots to No. 40 in the ATP rankings.

Following a quarter-final finish at the year’s final Masters 1000 in Paris, earning another Top 20 win against Jiri Lehecka, the Shanghai champion reached a career-high of No. 30 before the end of his breakthrough season.

Other Vote-Getters: Joao Fonseca, Jack Draper

Actual ATP Award Winner: Valentin Vacherot

Best ATP Tour Moment of 2025:

• Pete, Mel, Pat, Ravi: The epic Roland-Garros men’s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner
• Eddie: The “Cousinbowl” in Shanghai, Valentin Vacherot’s improbable victory over Arthur Rinderknech

Bold Prediction for 2026:  

• Pete: This will be Novak Djokovic’s final year on tour  
• Pat: No player will win more than one Slam  
• Mel: Someone not named Carlos Alcaraz or Jannik Sinner will win a Grand Slam  
• Ravi: Ben Shelton will make a Grand Slam final  
• Eddie: Both Sinner and Alcaraz will complete their respective Career Grand Slams 

The National Bank Open Power Rankings are a group collaboration by the Power Rankings Panel which includes:

• Pete Borkowski – Manager of Editorial and Player Coverage, Tennis Canada
• Melissa Boyd – Content Writer, Tennis Canada
• Sarah-Jade Champagne – Content Specialist, Tennis Canada
• Jonathan Chan - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
• Edward Lee – Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
• Hugues Leger – Producer, Podcast Sur La Ligne
• Charlotte Robillard-Millette – Communications Coordinator, Tennis Canada
• Abraham Santerre – Content Creator, Podcast Sur La Ligne
• Patrick Steski - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada
• Francesco Tosini - Content Writer, Tennis Canada
• Ravi Ubha - Content Contributor, Tennis Canada

The ATP's best return to Montreal next summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers Aug 1 to 13 at IGA Stadium. Click here for information about tickets. 

Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak