Elise Mertens · Biography

Elise Mertens won her first WTA title in January 2017 at the Hobart International, where she came through qualifying and beat Monica Niculescu in the final. Born on 17 November 1995 in Leuven, Belgium, the right-hander with a two-handed backhand turned professional in 2013 and built a career on two fronts: a singles game that took her to No. 12 in the world and a doubles record that made her world No. 1 for the first time on 10 May 2021.

First titles on the WTA Tour

Mertens returned to Hobart in 2018 and defended the title against Mihaela Buzărnescu. Weeks later she reached the semi-finals of the 2018 Australian Open, beating Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals before losing 6-3, 7-6 to Caroline Wozniacki. It was her first Grand Slam semi-final. That spring she added titles in Lugano, where she beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final, and in Rabat, against Ajla Tomljanović. On 26 November 2018 she reached her highest singles ranking, No. 12.

Doha and the singles years

In February 2019 Mertens entered the Qatar Open in Doha unseeded. She beat Kiki Bertens and Angelique Kerber on the way to the final and came from a set down to defeat top seed Simona Halep 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, her first win over the Romanian in three meetings. It was the first Premier-level title of her career. She reached the quarter-finals of the US Open in 2019 and again in 2020, and the fourth round at Roland Garros in 2018, 2022 and 2023. Further titles followed at the Gippsland Trophy in Melbourne in 2021, against Kaia Kanepi, and at the Jasmin Open in Monastir in 2022 and 2023, where she beat Alizé Cornet and Jasmine Paolini in the finals.

The Sabalenka partnership

The doubles breakthrough came alongside Sabalenka. In March 2019 the pair won Indian Wells and Miami back to back, and in September they took the 2019 US Open women’s doubles title, beating Victoria Azarenka and Ashleigh Barty 7-5, 7-5 on Arthur Ashe Stadium. It was the first Grand Slam title for both. They added the Australian Open in February 2021, and a title in Istanbul that spring lifted Mertens to the top of the doubles rankings in May. She was the second Belgian, after Kim Clijsters, to be ranked No. 1 in doubles.

Hsieh Su-wei, Kudermetova and the WTA Finals

With Hsieh Su-wei of Chinese Taipei, Mertens won Indian Wells in 2021 and then Wimbledon in 2021; the pair also reached the final of the WTA Finals that year. In 2022 she reached the Wimbledon final with Zhang Shuai, losing to Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková, and in November she won the WTA Finals with Veronika Kudermetova, beating the same Czech pair in the final. In 2023 she played with Storm Hunter of Australia: they won the Italian Open in Rome and reached the Wimbledon final. Reunited with Hsieh, she won the 2024 Australian Open and Indian Wells that year.

Grass, 11 match points and a second Wimbledon

In 2025 Mertens won the singles title in Singapore, beating Ann Li in the final. In June, on the grass of ’s-Hertogenbosch, she saved 11 match points in the semi-final against Ekaterina Alexandrova, winning 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, and the next day beat qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse for her tenth WTA singles title and first on grass. In July she and Kudermetova came from a set down to beat Hsieh and Jeļena Ostapenko 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the 2025 Wimbledon final, her fifth Grand Slam doubles title. In November in Riyadh the pair won the WTA Finals again, defeating Tímea Babos and Luisa Stefani 7-6, 6-1.

Belgium and the 2026 Australian Open

Mertens has represented Belgium in the Fed Cup, later renamed the Billie Jean King Cup, since 2017, and played the Hopman Cup in 2018. At the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, she lost in the first round of both singles and doubles. In January 2026 she partnered Zhang Shuai at the Australian Open; as fourth seeds they beat Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunić 7-6, 6-4 in the final on 31 January. It was her sixth Grand Slam doubles title and third in Melbourne, and on 2 February 2026 she returned to No. 1 in the doubles rankings.