Grass Court Tennis is Back! The Grass Court Season 2025

Hi loves,

Here we are - we have arrived on the grass. Oh how happy I am to be here! The clay was great, but nothing beats the green grass courts. The grass season officially kicked off yesterday, and we have a busy couple of weeks ahead. But before we look ahead, let us take a trip down memory lane. Let's have a little recap of last year's main moments and players, the tournaments we will be seeing throughout June and July, and also what makes grass court tennis so great.

How is grass different from other surfaces?

So, a crash course on grass courts. It is the fastest surface in tennis, dominated by more aggressive, shorter points. A drastic change from the dirt the players have been used to for the last few months. Serve and volley has historically been the way to go, and although as the game has progressed power has become a benefit on grass too, a big serve and sharp volleying is still a good way to go (if you have the skills). Variety is key on grass; switching up the play will help break an opponents rhythm. A fast, low bounce means quick players will thrive on grass courts, while slower players may struggle to find their rhythm.

What are the main grass court tournaments?

There are a whole host of tournaments shoved into the 4 week long grass court season, here are the main ones:

WTA

HSBC Championships - Queens (500)

Belin Tennis Open (500)

Bad Homburg Open (500)

Wimbledon (Grand Slam)

ATP

Boss Open - Stuttgart (250)

HSBC Championships - Queens (500)

Terra Wortmann Open - Halle (500)

Wimbledon (Grand Slam)

This is not an exhaustive list, there are plenty of other tournaments on the main tour and also on the Challenger and ITF circuits. If you want to see the full calendar then head to the ATP and WTA websites!

Wimbledon is obviously the pinnacle of grass court tennis. Wimbledon starts on 30th June this year, now the only slam to remain as a 14 day event and have a Monday start (the US Open will just the Australian Open and roland Garros as a Sunday start for the first time this year). For me, Wimbledon is the best tennis tournament in the world. Call me biased as a Brit but the history, beauty and tradition of the All England Club just makes for the perfect setting in tennis. Barbora Krejcikova and Carlos Alcaraz are our reigning champions.

Aerial view of the bustling Wimbledon grounds.

WTA Recap

This year, WTA tennis returns to The Queen’s Club for the first time in more than 50 years. Classified as a WTA500 event, it is now the biggest WTA grass court event in the UK - with Eastbourne being downgraded to a 250 event. Berlin and Bad Homburg are also WTA500 events this year, meaning there is ample opportunity for players, especially top players, to get their grass court practice in before the main event in SW19.

When I think of a current women’s player who is dominant on grass no one in particular comes to mind. The lead up tournaments feel all the more important this year because the recent winners and top performers at Wimbledon - Jabeur, Rybakina, and last year Paolini - have not been performing consistently well this year. 

Pegula, Kasatkina and Schnaider all won titles, but none performed consistently at other tournaments. Honestly, I am at a bit of a loss as to who we should be looking out for as we move from the clay to the grass, but I do think Aryna Sabalenka will be one to look at in the next couple of weeks. She missed Wimbledon last year due to injury and only played one (and a half) grass court matches, so will be coming to the grass ready to make some moves. She is world number one and this is essentially a free hit as she has next-to-no points to defend. After the disappointment of the Roland Garros final, she will be looking to string some matches together and regain her confidence.

Jessica Pegula won the Berlin Open title in 2024.

ATP Recap

The men will also be at Queens this year, just like normal, and in the same week as Queens we have Halle. Halle is another historic tournament and this is where 'King of Wimbledon' Roger Federer did his grass court preparations. Federer won the title 8 times in Halle, and from 2003-2006 he won the title in Germany and then went on to win the Wimbledon title as well. Jannik Sinner is defending champion in Halle, and will aim to defend his title with the style he portrayed last year.

Tommy Paul was the winner at Queen’s last year, triumphing over Lorenzo Musetti in the final. Both of these players have shown they can perform on grass, with Musetti also reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals last year. It will be intriguing to see them both back on the green green grass of London, where they will both be returning to Queens, this year as top 10 players.

Tommy Paul won the Queens title in 2024.

I am very excited to be attending WTA events at both Queens and Nottingham this year, and I have my fingers crossed that I will see a variety of top players (and no rain, unlike my visit to Nottingham last year).

The grass court swing is a unique time of the year, very short and very sweet. This is just a little snapshot of what happened last year and what we can look forward to. Everyone pray for as little rain as possible over the next month or so, or we won't be seeing much tennis at all!

Until next time, keep serving!

E x