The ATP Awards 2025 shortlisted candidates have been announced, marking the beginning of tennis’s annual awards season. With categories spanning Breakthrough of the Year, the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award and Coach of the Year, the nominations highlight both the sport’s brightest young talents and the enduring professionalism of its established stars. Winners will be revealed during Awards Week, beginning 8 December, with fan voting for the Fans’ Favourite awards open until 21 November.
In a significant development, members of the exclusive ATP No. 1 Club-the 29 current and former world No. 1 players- will vote to determine the winners of both Breakthrough of the Year and the Sportsmanship Award for the first time. Coach of the Year remains decided by fellow ATP coaches.
Let us have a look at the players who have been nominated for ATP Awards 2025.
ATP Awards 2025: Breakthrough of the Year
This year’s Breakthrough of the Year category has sparked the most discussion, both for who is included and who isn’t. The award honours the player who made the season’s most notable leap through landmark wins, ranking climbs or ATP title breakthroughs, typically spotlighting younger or Next Gen athletes.
The nominees reflect a wide array of trajectories:
- Jack Draper surged early in the season, capturing the Indian Wells Masters and cracking the Top 10. Although his year was later disrupted by injury, his peak results kept him in contention.
- Joao Fonseca ascended to World No. 24, winning titles in Buenos Aires and Basel, marking him as one of Brazil’s most exciting talents in years.
- Jakub Mensik, the Miami Open champion, continued to showcase maturity beyond his age with deep runs at major events.
- Valentin Vacherot made headlines by stunning the field to win the Shanghai Masters, one of the year’s most unexpected championship runs.
But the biggest talking point has been the omission of Learner Tien, widely viewed on social media as a glaring oversight. Tien broke into the Top 30, capped his season with a first ATP title in Metz, reached multiple fourth rounds at Majors and Masters 1000 events, and notched several Top-5 victories. His season-ending ranking of World No. 28 prompted many to label him the leading breakthrough story of 2025.
ATP Awards 2025: Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
Nominated for embodying fairness, professionalism and integrity on and off the court, the Sportsmanship Award features three former winners:
- Grigor Dimitrov – 2024 winner
- Carlos Alcaraz – 2023 winner
- Casper Ruud – 2022 winner
- Felix Auger-Aliassime – the lone nominee yet to claim the honour
This continues the category’s tradition of rewarding consistency in conduct among the sport’s most respected figures.
Notably absent for a second year is Jannik Sinner, whose 2024 doping violation and ensuing suspension remain an underlying factor for many observers. The Italian star, once expected to be a perennial contender for this honour, served a ban from February to May of last year after testing positive for an anabolic steroid at the 2024 Indian Wells Masters.
Also, continuing a long-standing trend, Novak Djokovic does not appear on the shortlist, having never won the award despite his storied career.
Also Read: Carlos Alcaraz On Jannik Sinner: “I Never Get Tired Of Seeing Him”
ATP Awards 2025: Coach of the Year
In the Coach of the Year category, the field is packed with elite names shaping the tour’s top performers:
- Darren Cahill & Simone Vagnozzi (Jannik Sinner)
- Juan Carlos Ferrero & Samuel Lopez (Carlos Alcaraz)
- Benjamin Balleret (Valentin Vacherot)
- Frederic Fontang (Felix Auger-Aliassime)
- Bryan Shelton (Ben Shelton)
Except for Balleret’s charge Vacherot, all coached players qualified for the year-end ATP Finals, underscoring the pedigree within this group. With Alcaraz and Sinner continuing to dominate the upper reaches of the rankings, their coaching teams enter as early favourites. However, Vacherot’s shock surge to the Shanghai Masters title and Ben Shelton’s leap into the Top 10 ensure this race remains competitive.
