From unexpected ATP Masters 1000 champions to historic runs around the world, the 2025 ATP Tour season saw several exciting moments as emerging talents took their chances at the sport’s biggest tournaments.
For the first time, the 29 members of the exclusive ATP No. 1 Club to determine the winner of Breakthrough of the Year in the ATP Awards. ATPTour.com takes a look at the four nominees.
[ATP AWARDS]
Jack Draper
The 23-year-old left-hander played with renewed confidence and firepower to cement his place at the top of the game. In the first six months of the year, Draper went from No. 18 in the PIF ATP Rankings to No. 4 in his career, culminating in his biggest career title at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells. The Briton, who enjoyed career-best runs at the Australian Open and Roland Garros by reaching the fourth round at both, also reached the finals in Doha and Madrid respectively.
Joao Fonseca
The Brazilian emerged as one of the most exciting young talents on Tour in 2025, supporting his victory at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. At the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires in February, the then 18-year-old Fonseca became the youngest South American champion in the ATP Tour era (since 1990). Fonseca made more history in Basel in October, when he became the third-youngest ATP 500 champion in the series’ history. Fonseca had started the season outside the Top 100 and finished the year at a career-high No. 24.
Jakub Mensik
Mensik lived a childhood dream during the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami. The Czech made a surprising run, shocking Top 5 stars Taylor Fritz and Novak Djokovic in his final two matches of the tournament. “It was probably the biggest day of my life,” Mensik said after beating his old idol Djokovic in the title match. After starting the year as world number 48, it rose to number 16 in August.
Valentin Vacherot
The Monegasque lived the fairy tale of all fairy tales in Shanghai, where he was in the main draw as the No. 204 qualifier with just one previous ATP Tour victory, and went on to make history as the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in history (since 1990). Vacherot, who defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final, earned 1,020 PIF ATP Ranking points in that tournament alone and shot up to No. 40 in the world. The 27-year-old built on his momentum with a quarterfinal finish at the Rolex Paris Masters, reaching a career-high No. 30.
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