Madison Keys and Coco Gauff Grand Slam champs, Ben Shelton winning Canadian Open & more: Looking into the USA's extraordinary 2025 tennis season heading into US Open

American players have been thriving this year, with the likes of Madison Keys, Coco Gauff and Ben Shelton leading the charge for their country. While players from the country have posted some great results over the past few years, the 2025 season has been extremely memorable for American tennis.

It all began in the very first week of the 2025 season. Gauff and Taylor Fritz led the USA to its second United Cup title. A fortnight later, Keys captured her maiden Major title at the Australian Open. She saved a match point against Iga Swiatek in the semifinals and beat two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Keys was touted as a Major champion since her arrival on the tour more than a decade ago. Nerves got the better of her during her first Major final at the US Open 2017, losing to compatriot Sloane Stephens in an extremely one-sided match. However, the new version of her remained unfazed despite facing numerous adversities en route to her title-winning run in Melbourne.

That's not all, as Taylor Townsend captured the women's doubles title Down Under with Katerina Siniakova. It marked her second Major title following her Wimbledon win a year ago.

The Middle East swing proved to be the crowning moment of another American prodigy. Amanda Anisimova clinched her very first WTA 1000 title at the Qatar Open. She has weathered plenty of ups and downs in her young life so far, so this triumph was a long overdue moment.

Gauff's results started to pick up some steam once she stepped foot on clay. After back-to-back runner-up finishes in Madrid and Rome, she toppled World No. 1 Sabalenka in the French Open final to secure her second Major title. She was one of the most consistent performers in Paris over the last few years, and she finally got over the hump this time.

Keys and Gauff's Major victories marked the first time two American women took home Grand Slam trophies since 2017, when Serena Williams won the Australian Open and Stephens won the US Open. Anisimova came quite close to making it a three-peat for American women. However, she lost to Swiatek in the Wimbledon final.

It was a heartbreaking end to a memorable campaign, with Anisimova going down 6-0, 6-0 in her maiden Major final. She doesn't have to look far for inspiration to bounce back from this setback, with the example of her compatriot Keys being right in front of her. The latter couldn't perform her best in her very first Grand Slam final but persevered to finally have her moment in the sun this year.

Given how well American women have done this year, there were five of them inside the top 10 of the WTA rankings at one point. Gauff, Keys, Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro occupied half of the spots in the top 10 a few weeks ago. Navarro is the only one who's not in the top 10 at the moment.

Townsend also ascended to the top of the doubles ranking for the first time on the heels of her victory at the Citi DC Open. While American women have enjoyed a lot of success, the men aren't lagging behind either.

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Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz among the American men making waves on the tour this year

Ben Shelton at the Canadian Open 2025. (Photo: Getty)

Taylor Fritz pushed himself into the top five of the ATP rankings last year thanks to his runner-up finishes at the US Open and the ATP Finals. He won a couple of titles during the grass swing this year, and used that momentum to reach his first semifinal at Wimbledon. He also made a couple of semifinals at the Masters 1000 level.

Ben Shelton has been on a roll this year, making a splash on the biggest stages. A semifinal showing at the Australian Open was followed by a fourth-round showing at the French Open and a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon. These were his new career-best results at the three Majors.

Shelton continued his good run of form and stormed to his maiden Masters 1000 title at the recently concluded Canadian Open. He rose to a new career high of No. 6 in the ATP rankings as a result.

Tommy Paul and Frances Tiafoe ended an unceremonious streak for American men at the French Open. They became the first players from the country to make the quarterfinals in Paris since Andre Agassi's last eight finish in 2003. It was also the first time multiple American men reached the quarterfinals of the clay court Major since Pete Sampras and Jim Courier in 1996.

Paul was in the top 10 until a couple of months ago but dropped out on account of his injury woes. Tiafoe has been a steady presence in the top 20 as well. With the US Open on the horizon, time is ripe for American players to potentially sweep both singles titles given their performances this year.

Sampras and Serena Williams were the last American players to win both singles titles at the US Open in the same year, accomplishing the feat in 2002. It wouldn't be surprising to see the long drought for the double crowning ending this year.