The evolution of champions: How the WTA’s best continue to adapt

Tennis players are creatures of habit.

If it’s working, don’t fix it. Even when things aren’t going well, there’s often a reluctance to change.

But survival in this sport is about more than just grinding through matches. It’s about adjusting to new conditions, evolving with the competition and refining the parts of your game that need sharpening. If the backhand down the line isn’t clicking, what’s the next move? A shift in rhythm? A tactical switch? A subtle change can make all the difference.

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The same is true on a larger scale -- no one stays at the top without adapting. Just look at the past five players to win a Grand Slam championship  -- every single one has tweaked, retooled or outright overhauled parts of their game to get where they are. Some made dramatic adjustments, others more subtle refinements, but the common thread is clear: Change isn’t just inevitable, it’s necessary.

On the day of the WTA’s rebranding launch, we look at the recent major winners who have embraced that reality, proving that evolution is part of what keeps them -- and the sport -- moving forward.

Madison Keys: A game rebuilt from the ground up

Late last season, perhaps contemplating her upcoming 30^th birthday in February, Madison Keys began a series of dramatic changes in her game -- an extreme makeover in every sense.

She switched her racquet from Wilson to Yonex. She changed her strings, eliminating natural gut. After a series of shoulder injuries, she abandoned the feet-apart platform stance that served her for many years, opting to go with the pinpoint approach -- sliding the back foot (for right-handers, the right foot) forward, beside the forward foot, before contact -- to reduce the stress on her joints. Although aggressive play has always been her calling card, Keys vowed to up the ante, especially in the critical moments, particularly forcing the issue at net. She also added physiotherapist Kayla Epperson to her team.

The results have been spectacular. Keys has won 14 of 15 matches this year and titles in Adelaide and Melbourne. She saved a match point in the semifinals against Iga Swiatek and was a three-set winner over Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final -- her first major victory.

The combination of those changes led to significantly faster average first-serve and forehand speeds -- six kilometers per hour compared to her 2022 numbers in Melbourne. She also came to net more than twice as often.

In addition to the technical and tactical changes Keys made, perhaps the most important step was altering her mindset. Through therapy, she came to realize that despite lacking a Grand Slam singles title, her career had been a success.

“Let’s make it completely clear,” Keys said in Melbourne. “I still really wanted to win a Grand Slam. I just wasn’t laying in bed at night thinking I’m a failure if I don’t win one anymore. These are two different things, but I just feel like it’s healthier to just want to win one.

“As long as I can continue to want to win matches and tournaments and not need them, then I think things will be good. If I can continue to try and do that consistently, then not only will good things happen but I’ll always walk away and be proud of myself.”

Aryna Sabalenka: Turning a challenge into a strength

She began the 2022 season in Adelaide against Kaja Juvan -- and 18 double faults cost her the match. The result was the same one week later when Sabalenka stroked 21 in a loss to qualifier Rebecca Peterson. At the Australian Open, Sabalenka hit nine double faults in her first two service games and 12 in the first set -- and somehow managed to win her second-round match against Wang Xinyu.

It got to the point, Sabalenka said, “I was just like, ‘Please, someone help me to fix this [expletive] serve.’ I’m sorry for swearing, but this is how it was.”

She was well on her way to a tour-leading 428 double faults (nearly eight per match), when she and her team finally called Gavin MacMillan for help before the tournament in Cincinnati. A former player at San Jose State, MacMillan became an expert in biomechanics, working with quarterbacks, baseball pitchers -- and tennis players.

The common perception was that Sabalenka’s double faults were a mental issue. After watching hours of tape, MacMillan explained to her that it wasn’t true. The main problem was her left arm, the lead arm that tosses the ball. After releasing the ball, it rarely aligned properly with her right arm, pulling her lead shoulder, and with it her right arm, off target. The best servers, he said -- Andy Roddick, Goran Ivanisevic and Roger Federer -- are more efficient and keep their arms in sync after the toss.

In 2023, Sabalenka won her first Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open and for a period of eight weeks rose to No. 1 in the PIF WTA Rankings. She cut her double faults nearly in half. Last year, she was even better, averaging less than three per match; this year through 15 matches, it’s down to 1.46.

On the tactical side, the current No. 1 is hitting fewer aces by design.

“When I checked the speed of my serve, not trying to hit it too hard it’s actually going really fast,” Sabalenka said last year in Rome. “The main thing is I’m not trying to ace every serve, I’m just trying to start the point in the right way.”

Barbora Krejcikova: Building a more complete game

Barbora Krejcikova has always had an elegant, all-court game -- fluid movement, sharp anticipation and an instinctive feel at the net. But in 2024, after a tough stretch that included a back injury and inconsistent results, she recognized the need for a tactical shift.

Her adjustment? A greater emphasis on variety. Krejcikova introduced more slices, chips and blocks into her baseline exchanges, disrupting opponents’ rhythm and forcing them to hit up on the ball. Instead of always trading power for power, she leaned into her natural touch and court sense, using her doubles-honed net play to finish points more efficiently. The change paid off, particularly a year ago at Wimbledon, where she turned her season around with a championship run built on smart shot selection and a more unpredictable attack.

Krejcikova has never been a one-dimensional player, but these refinements made her even harder to read. By adding more layers to her game -- without sacrificing the controlled aggression that made her a Grand Slam champion -- she evolved into a player who could hang with the tour’s heaviest hitters and outmaneuver them.

She didn’t just return to form. She found a new version of her game and, and as Jasmine Paolini, her fallen opponent said after Wimbledon, Krejcikova "is a very complete player."

Iga Swiatek: Sharpening the first strike

For a player who already sat atop the sport, Iga Swiatek’s willingness to overhaul her serve might have seemed unnecessary. But in tennis, staying still is falling behind, and she knew there was room to sharpen her first strike.

The adjustment? A shorter, smoother motion designed to eliminate excess movement and build consistency under pressure. By abbreviating the backswing and raising her hands higher in the setup, she removed unnecessary stutter steps, allowing for a more fluid, repeatable serve. The impact was immediate. Swiatek’s improved serve helped her hold more comfortably and bail herself out of tight moments, making an already dominant game even tougher to break down.

“We changed the whole movement before the shot, basically,” Swiatek said last year. “We’re making it more smooth and shorter, so I don’t have time to stutter under pressure.”

Unlike some power servers, Swiatek’s approach wasn’t about raw speed. It was about precision, placement, and rhythm -- hitting her spots with enough variation to keep opponents guessing. And when paired with her signature ability to absorb and redirect pace from the ground, the result was an even more suffocating version of her game.

Swiatek didn’t need a total reinvention -- just a fine-tuned weapon to make her already airtight game even harder to crack. And for a player already known for her relentless baseline play, that extra edge made all the difference.

Coco Gauff: Fine-tuning her tools for dominance

Coco Gauff has always been one of the brightest athletes on tour, but her game -- flawed yet formidable -- was due for an overhaul. After a breakout U.S. Open title in 2023, instability in her game became harder to ignore. Her forehand, with its extreme grip and long takeback, was breaking down under pressure. Her second serve, erratic and unreliable, could be a liability at times. The same competitiveness that fueled her success now left her visibly frustrated on court.

Enter Matt Daly, a low-profile coach with a high-level specialty: technical precision. Under his guidance, Gauff streamlined her forehand mechanics, shortening her backswing to handle pace more efficiently. Subtle serve adjustments followed, including grip tweaks and placement refinement, making the shot more consistent without sacrificing speed. These weren’t radical changes but calculated refinements, designed to give her the weapons to dictate play rather than defend.

The results? Immediate. A title in Beijing was followed by a dominant run at the WTA Finals, where she’s struck forehands with authority and kept her double faults in check.