All good things come to an end: Only one three/four-peat attempt in 2025 proved successful after changing of the guard in many tournaments

At the start of 2025, there were 10 competitions where players/countries were looking to win their third or fourth event in a row. Only one continued their streak of titles: Italy in the Davis Cup, while the rest faltered.

Despite not having Jannik Sinner or Lorenzo Musetti to call on, the Italians proved too strong for anyone who dared to challenge them in Bologna. Matteo Berrettini and Flavio Cobolli were flawless throughout the event, dropping just two sets between them the entire event as they won all six singles matches to win a third Davis Cup title on the spin. It is a fabulous achievement from Italy, and asserts their utter dominance in the event. Many other players have also achieved this in certain tournaments around the world, but they failed to taste the success they were desperate for.

At the start of 2025, Aryna Sabalenka was targeting an ambitious third Australian Open title in a row. She was looking to put her name alongside Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, and Martina Hingis as the only female players to win three in a row. Into the final, and she looked to be the favourite for another title. Her hardcourt form was exceptional, but so was Madison Keys at the start of the year. She broke the world number one's serve late on to secure her maiden Grand Slam title, and end Sabalenka's dominance Down Under.

Maybe even more surprising was Iga Swiatek's Roland Garros record being halted. She had lost at the venue in 2024, but that came in the semi-finals of the Paris Olympics to the eventual gold medallist Zheng Qinwen. As the 2025 French Open came around, the Pole was looking to become the first women in the open era to win four consecutive titles in the event, and first in over a century. However, those dreams ended when Sabalenka dished out more misery for the 24-year-old in the semi-final stages.

The third and final Grand Slam streak to be broken was Carlos Alcaraz's impressive title run at Wimbledon. He impressed on the frass of SW19 to win the 2023 and 2024 titles, defeating Novak Djokovic in both of them. However, it was not the seven-time champion to end his streak, but his arch-rival Sinner. Alcaraz went into the competition the red-hot favourite to regain his title but did not calculate an on-fire Italian ruining his plans.

It was not the only streak Alcaraz was trying to keep alive. His Indian Wells success came to an end after Jack Draper dumped him out in the semi-finals. The only other ATP event on this list was the Delray Beach Open, dominated by Taylor Fritz. His title defence was ended in the quarter-finals to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina with a brace of tiebreaks doing the job.

Swiatek and Sabalenka both appear on this unwanted list once more. She was the reigning two-time champion in the Qatar Open, but could not make it past the semi-finals. Sabalenka was one better in the Wuhan Open. Adding to that, she had never lost a match in her three previous visits to the Chinese city. Not all good things last forever, though. Jessica Pegula defeated her in a closely fought contest.

The American herself had total authority in the Canadian Open in 2023 and 2024, but was unable to make it three on the trot after a surprising third-round exit to Anastasija Sevastova in one of the biggest upsets of the year. Finally, Katie Boulter's impressive Nottingham Open run ended at the quarter-final stage as McCartney Kessler dumped her out.