"An absolute force of mental anguish, athleticism, drama, peaking at the right time" -Andy Roddick about Roland Garros final

Former world No. 1 Andy Roddick reviewed the best matches of the 2025 season in his most recent episode of Served with Roddick. He commented on the fans' choices, though he didn't always agree with the results chosen by the podcast's followers.

The American first addressed what he believes makes a great match: "Here’s the way I see it: some matches have great drama and storyline, but the level of tennis is pretty bad. Like the Thiem vs. Zverev US Open final—massive drama, but neither played their best."

The 2003 US Open champion made the distinction between great matches and great performances, recalling the Wimbledon final in which Iga Swiatek took the triumph 6-0, 6-0 against Amanda Anisimova. The Pole played an almost perfect match and secured the win in less than an hour without conceding a set, while the American had by far her worst presentation of the year.

"If Iga goes out and completely turns a Grand Slam final upside down in the first 20 minutes of the match, I'm going, that's a dominant performance, not one of the best matches."

Among the matches chosen by the fans, which included both men's and women's duels, Iga Swiatek was a recurring name. The Pole occupied 10th place for her semifinal triumph over Belinda Bencic on the way to her Wimbledon title, as well as 6th place for her notable final against Anisimova.

"I will say when you are nervous going out for a Grand Slam final, and then from the word go, someone has a game plan and the ability to execute it immediately. Guess what that does to your nerves," Roddick commented. "Doesn't make them better. You feel lost. And you saw about five, six, seven, eight games in, you could see the narrative shift to like, ‘oh, I don't know if I'm actually still in this match, but please let me squeeze a game.’"

However, fans also highlighted Anisimova's triumph over Swiatek in the US Open quarterfinals, where the American finally took revenge with a straight-sets win, advancing to a Grand Slam semifinal for the second consecutive time—snapping Swiatek's 11-match winning streak at Majors.

Another one of the season's great stories was the Shanghai Masters final on the men's side. In an unexpected matchup, cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech faced off, both playing in their first Masters 1000 final. It was perhaps the most unexpected final for a tournament of this category in history, pitting world No. 204 against No. 54.

Vacherot secured the victory 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, winning his first ATP title after beating rivals like Alexander Bublik, Holger Rune, and Novak Djokovic. It was undoubtedly one of the great stories of the season.

"Going through qualifying, it was a million degrees in Shanghai. The fact that this guy had taken his lumps and [co-host] JW mentioned, he lost to a guy outside the 300. I think he lost to someone outside of the top 800 in the previous 3 months before he did this. To keep the motivation and be professional and keep yourself in shape enough to rip off 10 days or 14 days of tennis at the highest level is an undersold part of this story."

The most important matches of the season came as no surprise: the rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz took the top spots.

The second spot went to the Wimbledon final, where the Italian took revenge for the four consecutive finals he had lost to the Spaniard. Sinner claimed his fourth Grand Slam title in four sets, also snapping "Carlitos'" 20-match winning streak at SW19.

But the Match of the Season was undoubtedly the Roland Garros final. Roddick had no doubts that it was one of the best in history. "I simply went on air the next week and got us into a bunch of trouble because I said, 'Tennis players are the best athletes in the world.' And I felt like I was going to get the least amount of push back ever for a moment in time because that match had been played two days earlier. An absolute force of mental anguish, athleticism, drama, peaking at the right time. Everything you could ever want in a match, this was."

10. Wimbledon Semifinal: Iga Swiatek def. Belinda Bencic: 6-2, 6-0

9. US Open Quarterfinal: Amanda Anisimova vs. Iga Swiatek: 6-4, 6-3

8. Shanghai Open Final: Valentin Vacherot vs. Arthur Rinderknech: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3

7. Australian Open Semifinal: Madison Keys vs. Iga Swiatek: 5-7, 6-1, 7-6

6. Wimbledon Final: Iga Swiatek vs. Amanda Anisimova: 6-0, 6-0

5. Australian Open Quarterfinal: Novak Djokovic vs. Carlos Alcaraz: 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4

4. French Open Final: Coco Gauff def. Aryna Sabalenka: 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4

3. Australian Open Final: Madison Keys def. Aryna Sabalenka: 6-3, 2-6, 7-5

2. Wimbledon Final: Jannik Sinner def. Carlos Alcaraz: 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4

1. French Open Final: Carlos Alcaraz def. Jannik Sinner: 4-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6[10-2]