Burlington’s Victoria Mboko and France’s Lois Boisson took the WTA by storm in 2025. Both began 2025 outside the Top 200 — the Top 300 in Mboko’s case — but ended the year ranked 18th and 36th, respectively. Janice Tjen and Iva Jovic enjoyed similar breakthroughs.
Who could do the same thing in 2026? The following four players are worth keeping an eye on. Three of them are already inside the Top 200 so the rise wouldn’t be as meteoric, but they could continue their ascent. The last one, meanwhile, is still inexperienced — at junior level. (Note: To be considered, their career highs can’t be inside the Top 50)
Tereza Valentova (Czechia, No. 60):
Yet another player to emerge from Czechia, Tereza Valentova — whose role models include Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner — won the final junior Slam she played, in 2024, at the French Open. But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for the 18-year-old. She dealt with a hip injury and said she wasn’t happy with her old coaching team.
With that behind her, Valentova, among other highlights, reached her first WTA final in Osaka in October as a qualifier — losing to Laval’s Leylah Fernandez — and gave Grand Slam winner Elena Rybakina a scare at the US Open.
Petra Marcinko (Croatia, No. 84):
For a player whose favourite movie is 'Back to the Future,' Petra Marcinko, who sparkled for Croatia in the Billie Jean King Cup, could be one for the immediate future. Marcinko will make her Grand Slam debut at the Australian Open after guaranteeing her spot by winning an ITF tournament in Dubai right before the cut off.
Read also: Best Stories from an Unpredictable 2025 WTA Season
Melbourne has already been eventful for the 20-year-old: she won the junior title in 2022 and competed in top-tier qualifying in 2025, despite telling Croatian media that she still felt the effects of a serious ankle injury sustained a few months earlier.
Lilli Tagger (Austria, No. 159):
Who doesn’t like a one-handed backhand, eh? As Taylor Fritz once said, he’d have more fans if he had a one-hander instead of a two-hander.
Continuing with the theme of junior Grand Slam winners, Tagger and her one-hander — like her coach, French Open winner Francesca Schiavone —acclimatized well after making the transition from the juniors to the pros. The 17-year-old strung together a 10-match winning streak at ITFs in September before saving the best for last. Competing in her first WTA main draw as a wildcard ranked 235th, Tagger reached the final in Jiujiang, China.
Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva (Brazil, No. 648):
When Grand Slam semifinalist Beatriz Haddad Maia shut down her season in September, it didn’t mean the end as it related to the Brazilian women in singles. Da Silva (known in Brazil simply as ‘Nauhany Silva’) made history the same month by becoming the first player born in 2010 to win a WTA main draw match. (She turns 16 in March.)
If that wasn’t enough, Da Silva starred in the Billie Jean King Cup in November in Australia, beating then world No. 255 Matilde Jorge of Portugal 7-5, 6-4. The next day, Da Silva took a set off Top 100 Aussie Kimberly Birrell. Her biggest weapon? A serve clocked at around 120 miles per hour. Could we have a Da Silva-Joao Fonseca mixed doubles pairing at a future Olympics?
The WTA's best return to Toronto next summer for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers Aug 1 to 13 at Sobeys Stadium. Click here for information about tickets.
Feature Photo: Roland-Garros
