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Three Surging Players Who Can Cap 2025 With First ATP Title

The three players, each of whom has made major strides in 2025, eye a strong finish to their respective seasons with a trip to the winner’s circle.
Van Sias|
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is one of three players that could finish 2025 with their first career title.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is one of three players that could finish 2025 with their first career title. | IMAGO / VCG

Now that the dust has settled after one of the wildest, you-could-not-script-this moments in tennis history, things have been relatively normal on the ATP Tour this week at the first three events of the European indoor swing.

Though Valentin Vacherot, last week’s surprise Shanghai Masters champion, is not playing, his impact is sure to be felt as the remaining players across the draws in Stockholm, Brussels, and Almaty, Kazakhstan, approach the weekend with one thought in mind: “Why not me?”

After all, if an alternate for the qualifying draw can win one of the game’s biggest prizes, what’s to stop players like Corentin Moutet, Alex Michelsen, or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina—each in the midst of a career-best year—from capping their own campaign with a first ATP Tour title?

In Almaty, Moutet, the eighth seed, is through to the semifinals without dropping a set. Renowned for his flashy game and knack for finding himself in the middle of drama with umps, players, and fans, Moutet reached his second career final—and first in five years—during the grass-court season in Mallorca.

The Frenchman has the ability to get under anyone’s skin, which could serve him well against higher-ranked opponents who might be looking at the finish line on a long season.

Michelsen has also made an impact on the draw in Almaty by advancing to the semis, where he will face Moutet. The American is coming off his own shock run in Shanghai, where he and Andre Goransson made a trip to the finals, his second doubles title tilt of 2025.

Michelsen got off to a strong start at the beginning of the season with a fourth-round appearance in Melbourne, then several months later, he won the biggest title of his brief career, a Challenger in Estoril, Portugal. His results overall have been up and down, but he did contribute to Team World’s win at the Laver Cup in his debut.

Fokina, the fourth seed in Brussels this week, has been one of the most consistent performers on hard courts this year. Back in February, the Spaniard reached back-to-back finals in Delray Beach and Acapulco, his first championship appearances in three years.

Most memorably, he dropped a heartbreaker to Alex De Minaur in the Washington final, where he was only a couple of points away from that elusive championship.

For Moutet, Michelsen, and Davidovich Fokina, the indoor conditions suit their respective games. With career-high rankings and best-ever results already achieved this year, finishing 2025 with a title in hand would only serve them well going into next year.

And if they needed any extra motivation, all they have to do is look what happened several days ago. Why not them, indeed.

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Van Sias
VAN SIAS

Van Sias has covered the professional game for more than a decade. His work has appeared at TENNIS.com, Rolling Stone, The Atlantic, The New York Times and Racquet, among others, and he’s been a featured guest on NPR programs discussing topics ranging from the US Open to the impact of Serena Williams’ retirement. Tennis has long been a part of Van’s life, from playing as a junior in Alabama to currently captaining USTA teams in New York. You can reach him at siasorama@gmail.com.

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