Alex Eala, Victoria Mboko, Lois Boisson & Maya Joint all nominated for same prestigious WTA award
It was a big season for rising stars on the WTA Tour — and several high-profile nominees are competing for the Newcomer of the Year Award in the end-of-season WTA awards.
Alongside a string of other awards, the six nominees for the Newcomer of the Year Award were all announced on Monday.
Here, we look at the six nominees and their impressive achievements in 2025.
Victoria Mboko
Mboko had not played a tour-level match before 2025, though she rose from outside the top 350 to inside the top 20 during a landmark breakthrough season.
The standout of the 19-year-old’s year was undoubtedly her stunning run to the WTA 1000 Canadian Open title, triumphing on home turf in Montreal — and beating four major champions on the way.
She would also crack the top 20 of the WTA Rankings after winning her second WTA title at the Hong Kong Tennis Open, having reached round three of the French Open and round two of Wimbledon.
Lois Boisson
Boisson produced the most surprising Grand Slam run of 2025 — and one of the most surprising ever — at Roland Garros, the world No 361 defying the odds to reach the last four of her home major.
The Frenchwoman became just the fifth woman to reach the semi-final on her maiden Grand Slam appearance, and would go on to win her first tour-level title in Hamburg.
Having never previously been inside the top 100, the 22-year-old finished 2025 ranked at a career-high of 36th in the world.
Alex Eala
Tennis trailblazer Eala made plenty of history throughout 2025, most notably becoming the first Filipino in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles match, reaching round two of the US Open.
The 20-year-old also made her debut appearances at the French Open and Wimbledon this summer, all after her stunning breakout run at the Miami Open — beating three Slam winners on her way to the last four.
2025 also saw Eala reach her first WTA Tour final in Eastbourne and win the WTA 125 title in Guadalajara, finishing the year at a new career-high ranking of world No 50.
