Clara Tauson didn’t so much announce herself in 2025 as reintroduce herself — louder, fitter, and with a new habit of winning the tight ones. World No.12 by October wasn’t the product of one hot week. It was built on repeated proof that her power game can survive the long season, not just the highlights.
Auckland Title That Bled Into 2025
This is the one overlap, and it mattered. Tauson’s Auckland run (starting December 30 on No.50 ) set the tone: clean hitting, heavy first-strike tennis, and a taste for big names. She steadied after dropping the first set to Sofia Kenin to win 4-6 7-6(7) 7-6(3), leaning hard on a strong first-serve points won number (79.3%) despite only 52.3% first serves in.
Then came the statement: Madison Keys in the quarters, 6-4 7-6(7), where Tauson saved 5 of 7 break points and didn’t blink in the breaker. The final ended awkwardly — Naomi Osaka retired at 4-6 — but it still put a trophy in her hands and belief in her luggage.
Melbourne: A Proper Punch at the Champion
At the Australian Open she didn’t get a kind draw, and she didn’t need one. She turned around Linda Noskova 5-7 6-3 6-4, then throttled Tatjana Maria 6-2 6-2 with an 85.7% first-serve points won rate.
The third round was the litmus test: Aryna Sabalenka. Tauson lost 7-6(5) 6-4, but she made the world No.1 earn it the ugly way — saving 11 of 17 break points. The numbers also revealed the gap: Sabalenka bullied second serves, and Tauson’s own second-serve points won sat at 25.6%. Close, yes. Comfortable, no.
Linz and the First Dip: Power Without the Cushion
Linz looked like continuity — three straight wins over Anhelina Kalinina, Sorana Cirstea, and Anna Blinkova — but the semifinal loss to Dayana Yastremska (6-1 6-4) exposed a familiar problem: when the first serve doesn’t give her cheap points, the floor drops quickly. She landed 58.3% first serves, won 77.1% behind it, and still got rushed off the court because the rallies went one direction.
Doha was worse: a retirement at 0-6 against Elise Mertens. It was a midwinter reminder that Tauson’s season has rarely been about talent. It has usually been about availability.
Dubai: The Peak Week That Wasn’t a Fluke
Dubai was the turning point because it wasn’t built on soft landings. It was built on grown-up wins.
She beat Elina Svitolina in a bruising double-tiebreaker 7-6(5) 3-6 7-6(4) and saved 15 of 20 break points — the sort of survival rate that used to desert her. Then she did the thing that changes how the locker room treats you: she beat Sabalenka 6-3 6-2 with a crisp blend of aggression and discipline, winning 79.2% behind her first serve.
The run kept rolling: Noskova again (7-6(4) 6-4), then Karolina Muchova (6-4 6-7(4) 6-3). By the final she’d played like a top player for five matches — and then got clipped by Mirra Andreeva 7-6(1) 6-1, a scoreline that screamed fatigue as much as it did tactics. Still, a WTA 1000 final is a career landmark, and it pushed her season into a different category.
Sunshine Swings: Good Wins, Then the Wall
At Indian Wells she edged Camila Osorio 7-6(3) 7-5, then ran into Andreeva again and got flattened 6-3 6-0. Miami followed a similar pattern: she handled Julia Grabher 6-4 7-5, then lost to Paula Badosa 6-3 7-6(3) despite winning a healthy 72.5% behind her first serve. The margins were fine; the outcomes weren’t.
Clay: Improvement, Not Yet Authority
Clay season was a sequence of “nearlys.” She pushed Anastasia Potapova in Stuttgart and lost 2-6 7-6(8) 6-3, then fell to Belinda Bencic 7-5 7-5 in Madrid with break-point chances slipping away.
Rome finally offered a signature clay win: she reversed Emma Navarro 3-6 6-0 6-4, then again found Andreeva, losing 5-7 6-3 6-2 after taking the first set. Strasbourg was another three-set fade versus Beatriz Haddad Maia (3-6 6-4 7-5).
At Roland Garros she beat Magda Linette (6-4 4-6 6-1) and Arantxa Rus (7-6(2) 7-5), but Amanda Anisimova edged her 7-6(4) 6-4. Solid slam points, but not yet slam danger.
Grass: One Upset That Changed the Summer
Grass began with a decent Nottingham week before Linette returned the favor in the quarters (6-2 7-5). Bad Homburg brought another Andreeva roadblock (3-6 6-3 6-1).
Then Wimbledon happened. Tauson came from a set down against Heather Watson (2-6 6-4 6-3), edged Anna Kalinskaya in a nerve-scraping breaker (6-3 7-6(10)), and produced the season’s cleanest headline by taking out Elena Rybakina 7-6(6) 6-3, saving all four break points she faced.
The reward was Iga Swiatek in the fourth round — and the bill came due (6-4 6-1) on a day when Tauson’s first-serve rate dipped to 44.2% and the rally tolerance simply wasn’t there.
North America: Montreal Proved the Ceiling, US Open the Fragility
Washington offered grit — she turned Caroline Dolehide in three (3-6 7-5 6-4) after 3:10 of work — but Anna Kalinskaya stopped her in the quarters (6-3 7-5).
Montreal was the real proof-of-ranking week. Tauson crushed early rounds, then beat Swiatek 7-6(1) 6-3 and demolished Keys 6-1 6-4. That back-to-back told you exactly what her best tennis looks like: early contact, first-serve authority, and no time given to set up.
The semifinal loss to Osaka (6-2 7-6(7)) was tight at the end, but the damage was done early. Cincinnati brought a three-set win over Ajla Tomljanovic before a close loss to Veronika Kudermetova (3-6 7-6(4) 6-4).
Then came the gut-punch: US Open first round, beaten by Alexandra Eala 6-3 2-6 7-6(11). For a player seeded 14 and climbing, it was the sort of result that turns a very good season into a frustrating one.
Asia: Ranking High, Finish Scrappy
She arrived in Seoul as world No.12, beat Eva Lys (6-2 7-6(4)), then got ambushed by Maya Joint 6-0 6-3. Beijing brought another three-set slip versus Zeynep Sonmez (6-4 2-6 6-3). Wuhan ended with retirement against Jasmine Paolini (down 3-6 6-1 3-1), and Ningbo finished with another three-set loss to Tomljanovic (1-6 7-6(4) 6-3).
The pattern late in the year was clear: the peak level was still there, but the weekly sharpness wasn’t.
Clara Tauson Assessment
The improvement was real, and it showed in the matches that used to escape her. Saving 15 of 20 break points against Svitolina in Dubai and surviving back-to-back breakers against Kenin in Auckland weren’t accidents — they were signs of a player with better emotional control under pressure. The high-end ceiling also rose: beating Swiatek in Montreal (7-6(1) 6-3) and Rybakina at Wimbledon (7-6(6) 6-3) proved her power can take time away from the very best.
What still limits titles is consistency of first-serve delivery and the durability of her second-serve patterns when the pace comes back at her. Against Sabalenka in Melbourne, the second-serve points won (25.6%) told the story even in a respectable loss. And in the biggest “nearly” matches — the Dubai final loss to Andreeva (7-6(1) 6-1) and the US Open defeat to Eala (7-6(11) in the third) — the season revealed the same truth: when the legs fade or the first ball doesn’t land, her Plan B still looks more hopeful than reliable.
Final Verdict A-
A genuine top-12 season powered by elite shot-making, a WTA 1000 final run, and enough big wins to make her a weekly threat — even if the year still ended with too many sudden flat lines.
GPA: 3.7
If she steadies the second serve and keeps the body intact, the top 10 isn’t a dream; it’s a calendar appointment. So the question that follows yesterday’s assessment is simple: who gets there first — Linda Noskova or her? Either way, it will be one of next season’s most compelling watches.
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