The 24-year-old recorded straight set wins over Alycia Parks, 14th seed Daria Kasatkina and Maya Joint before upsetting fourth seed and reigning Indian Wells champion Mirra Andreeva - marking her first win over a top 10 player. 

Although she later lost out to Linda Noskova, Kartal proved that she has what it takes to go toe-to-toe against the world’s best players and will be a force to be reckoned with heading into 2026. 

A season of British doubles domination 

There’s no doubt that 2025 was the year of British doubles domination. 

Five British players ended the year ranked inside the ATP doubles top 10 for the first time in the Open Era. It’s also the first time in 32 years that five players from one nation have featured in the top 10 together.

Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool finished the year as year-end world No.1s, joined by Henry Patten, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury. 

On top of that, all of this year’s Grand Slam men’s doubles finals had British representation, and half of the titles went the way of the Brits.  

Patten swept up the trophy down under at the Australian Open alongside Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara, while Cash and Glasspool became the first all-British men’s doubles winners at Wimbledon since 1936. Salisbury and Skupski also reached finals at Roland Garros and the US Open. 

Looking ahead to the new season, the evolution and growth of the British doubles game is going to be a storyline you’ll want to watch unfold.  

Greg Slade’s first Grand Slam final 

Amid the continued success of Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid, Lucy Shuker and Andy Lapthorne this year, quad wheelchair tennis star Greg Slade has also enjoyed a breakthrough campaign of his own. 

The 23-year-old impressed at Wimbledon where he reached the semi-finals of the quad singles draw before securing a spot in a career-first Grand Slam final in the quad doubles alongside South Africa’s Donald Ramphadi, where they finished runners-up. 

While he might have narrowly missed out on a maiden Grand Slam crown, Slade managed to wrap his hands around five trophies this year - including two quad singles titles in Bolton, and three doubles crowns including the Lexus Eastbourne Open title with Lapthorne. 

The 2024 Paris Paralympic silver medallist finished the year ranked No.9 in the world and will aim to continue his upwards trajectory heading into the new year. 

The next generation make their mark 

For the past few years, a new crop of young talent has been emerging onto the British tennis scene. 

The likes of Mimi Xu, Mika Stojsavljevic, Hannah Klugman, Charlie Robertson, and Oliver Bonding have all enjoyed successful junior careers and are now translating that promise onto the professional circuit. 

Xu has enjoyed a memorable first year as a professional tennis player having reached the quarter-finals at the Lexus Birmingham Open and recording first round wins in Ilkley and Nottingham.  

The 18-year-old continued to excel throughout the remainder of the season and rounded off the year by lifting her second pro-level title, and biggest trophy of her career in front of her home crowd at the Lexus Wrexham Open. 

In the final of the W100 event, she beat fellow rising star Stojsavljevic who has gained plenty of success of her own this year. In October, the 16-year-old also claimed her second ITF title at the Lexus British Pro Series Birmingham and has reached a further two finals this year. 

On the men’s side, 19-year-old Robertson has been picking up results on the ATP Challenger Tour this year and most recently reached his first semi-final on the circuit at the Soma Bay Challenger. 

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Oliver Bonding experienced his first taste of success on the ITF Tour this year, where he sealed his maiden pro-level title at the M15 Lannion in France.  

Lexus GB team continue Billie Jean King Cup success 

The Billie Jean King Cup once again delivered some memorable moments for Great Britain. 

From Kartal’s heroic debut wins to Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage’s triumphant deciding doubles win against the Netherlands - April’s Qualifiers were unforgettable as Great Britain booked their ticket to the Finals in Shenzhen. 

There, Kartal and Boulter helped guide their nation to the semi-finals for the third time in four years, where they narrowly lost out to the USA. 

That said, this year’s campaign marked another step closer to Billie Jean King Cup glory for the Lexus GB team who finished the year ranked No.3 in the nation rankings. 

Strength and depth in British tennis across all levels 

If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that British tennis is in fantastic hands. As of December, there were 14 British players ranked inside the top 200 across the WTA and ATP rankings. 

While the likes of Britain’s highest-ranked players like Jack Draper, Emma Raducanu, Norrie, Kartal and Fearnley have continued to shine at the top of the game this year, several others have reached equally impressive milestones. 

For players like Jack Pinnington Jones, Arthur Fery and Billy Harris, this year brought career-first ATP Challenger titles, while Francesca Jones’s consistency led to two WTA 125 titles and a breakthrough into the world’s top 100. 

There was also a record-breaking 15 ATP Challenger Tour titles won by British players this season.