Underdogs ignite 2025’s most memorable shocks
The ATP Tour’s relentless pace in 2025 amplified every vulnerability, as five underdogs seized their moments to topple giants and rewrite season narratives with tactical daring and mental steel.
The 2025 season delivered its share of jolts, where surprises became the pulse of the tour’s diverse calendar. ATPTour.com’s our annual ‘Best Of’ series captures these turning points, focusing on five non-Grand Slam upsets that blended sharp strategy with raw emotion. From grass’s slippery bounce to hard courts’ steady grind, these matches exposed how a single shift in tempo could upend the elite, leaving crowds breathless and careers forever altered.
Grass and hard courts fuel early defiance
Alexander Bublik turned the slick surfaces of the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle into his personal canvas, stunning Jannik Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round. Just two weeks after a six-game rout by Sinner at Roland Garros, the Kazakhstani dialed up his flair, firing 36 winners with a mix of flat power and soft touch that exploited grass’s low skid. His clutch serving held off the Italian’s precise returns, snapping a 66-match winning streak against players outside the Top 20 and marking Bublik’s first victory over a No. 1.
This win propelled him to the Halle title, the start of a four-trophy year that lifted him to a career-high No. 11. Sinner, facing only his second early exit before a final all season, used the setback as kindling for his maiden Wimbledon triumph three weeks on, where he sharpened his focus amid the Centre Court tension.
“We are tennis players and we try to win every match we play but it is a special one,” Bublik said after toppling the defending Halle champion. “I had never beaten a No. 1 in the world. It is an accomplishment. I kept serving. I tried to be clutch. He is an unbelievable player and I was not thinking that I could beat him.”
Terence Atmane arrived at the Cincinnati Open with a 1-4 tour-level record, yet the World No. 136 qualifier dismantled fourth seed Taylor Fritz 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the fourth round. On the medium-paced hard courts, Atmane matched Fritz’s heavy serves with 13 aces of his own, winning 82 percent of first-serve points and using flat backhands to keep rallies crisp against the American’s topspin forehands. The Frenchman’s drive-volley winner clinched his biggest career victory, silencing the home favorite who had racked up a tour-leading 13 grass-court wins and a Toronto semifinal the week before.
Atmane advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal, then ousted Holger Rune for a second Top 10 scalp before Sinner stopped him in the semifinals. The run cracked the Top 100 for the 23-year-old, a breakthrough that demanded he sustain that serving edge week after week.
“What a week. What a week, I have to say,” said Atmane, who cracked the Top 100 for the first time. “I’m so happy that finally my work is paying off. But as I said with my coach, this is just a tournament and I need to repeat this kind of level every single week on a daily basis to be at their spot.”
Lucky draws and veteran guile test the greats
Botic van de Zandschulp entered the BNP Paribas Open as a lucky loser and channeled his taste for tough draws into a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 rout of five-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round. Building on his 2024 US Open upset of Carlos Alcaraz, the Dutchman scrambled relentlessly in the desert heat, breaking for 3-1 in the decider with two sharp winners that pierced Djokovic’s rhythm. His defense weathered the Serb’s second-set surge, evening their head-to-head at 1-1 and delivering Van de Zandschulp’s eighth Top 10 win—his first back-to-back victories of the year.
Djokovic’s error-filled opener contributed to his first three-match losing streak since 2018, a rare vulnerability that forced him to reassess amid physical strains and title defenses. The Dutchman’s poise under pressure showed how opportunistic baseline play can unravel even the most decorated careers on Indian Wells’ sun-baked courts.
“When I reflect on this match, obviously I’ll see a little bit more about what I could have done more, but… he played some really good points to break my serve,” Djokovic admitted. “But just putting myself in that position, I shouldn’t allow myself to do that.”
David Goffin‘s subtle threat emerged at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where the 34-year-old Belgian edged Alcaraz 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. After five straight tour-level losses to start the year, Goffin gained traction with a win over Ben Shelton in Acapulco, then absorbed the Spaniard’s explosive groundstrokes under the night-session humidity. His flat winners and underspin slices redirected Alcaraz’s inside-out forehands crosscourt, breaking in the second set with deep returns that pinned the young star deep.
This marked Goffin’s third straight victory over a Top 3 player, echoing his 2017 charge to the Nitto ATP Finals title match against Roger Federer. The upset reignited his fire, proving veteran timing could exploit Miami’s faster surface and turn stadium energy into a weapon for resurgence.
“It feels amazing. Sometimes some matches are tough and you have to fight, and you’re happy to have a second round like that in a stadium,” said Goffin. “That’s why I continue to play tennis, to have that kind of match in a stadium, to play some good tennis. [I was] just trying to enjoy the moment.”
Qualifier’s poise crowns a dream run
Valentin Vacherot‘s semi-final masterclass at the Shanghai Masters dismantled four-time champion Djokovic 6-3, 6-4, capping a week that announced a fresh force on the tour. The World No. 204, through qualifying with just one prior ATP win, dictated with solid baseline topspin and laser serves, staying composed in the 100-minute clash despite the Serb’s evident physical limits. Vacherot’s steady rallies forced errors, turning Shanghai’s supportive roar into momentum for his biggest career scalp.
He sealed the fairytale by beating cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final, becoming the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion ever and jumping 164 spots to No. 40. For Djokovic, the loss deepened reflections on a taxing year, while Vacherot’s calm under the lights hinted at a contender ready to challenge the tour’s depth in seasons ahead.
“This is just crazy. First of all, to just be on the other side of the court [from Novak] was an unbelievable experience,” said Vacherot, who catapulted 164 spots to No. 40 in the PIF ATP Rankings following his run. “I think I’ve got so much to learn from this match, from him. Even for myself, I’ve got a lot to keep. It was an hour and 40 minutes of pure joy, even though not many people wanted me to keep going. He’s really appreciated here. He has won four times. I got a bit lost in all his titles when they were announcing him, but it was an unreal experience.”
These upsets threaded resilience through 2025’s demanding swings, from spring Masters to Asian finales, where tactical edges like Bublik’s grass improvisations and Vacherot’s baseline control disrupted the elite’s flow. The victors—from Atmane’s serving stands to Goffin’s counterpunches—forged paths amid doubt, while the fallen refined their games for 2026’s battles. In tennis’s unforgiving arena, such moments promise more underdog surges, keeping the tour’s hierarchy forever in flux.
