We need to cut 2K Sports, or indeed any tennis game developer, some slack here: lining up a complete list of pros is not easy. That’s because, unlike in other sports, there’s no governing body in tennis overseeing the likenesses of players, so contracts need to be signed on a case-by-case basis. Nevertheless, the full roster of playable pros in TopSpin 2K25 does look extremely light.
Here’s the full lineup, as revealed by the developer on social media:
Top Spin 2K25 Male Pro Players
- Andy Murray
- Ben Shelton
- Carlos Alcaraz
- Danil Medvedev
- Frances Tiafoe
- Matteo Berrettini
- Taylor Fritz
Top Spin 2K25 Female Pro Players
- Belinda Bencic
- Caroline Wozniacki
- Coco Gauff
- Emma Raducanu
- Iga Swiatek
- Karolina Pliskova
- Leylah Fernandez
- Madison Keys
- Naomi Osaka
- Paula Badosa
- Sloane Stephens
Top Spin 2K25 Legends
- Andre Agassi
- John McEnroe
- Maria Sharapova
- Pete Sampras
- Roger Federer
- Serena Williams
- Steffi Graf
Overall, the female players list is fine, with superstar Iga Swiatek flanked by fan favourites like Coco Gauff, Leylah Fernandez, and Naomi Osaka. Obviously, there are some big names missing here, like Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, but it’s a decent enough selection overall. The Legends list is also solid, but could have been strengthened with the likes of Bjorn Borg.
It’s the minuscule list of male players that will probably draw the most criticism. Most notably, both Novak Djokovic and Rafa Nadal are absent, although the latter would probably be better suited to the Legends list these days considering his ongoing injuries. But without Jannick Sinner, Alex Zverev, Casper Ruud, and Alex de Minaur, it is missing a lot of big-name players.
Presumably there will be DLC plans, and we can see more pros being added over time, but it’ll be interesting to see how much they cost. For now, though, this looks like it’s the full lineup for launch, so how do you feel about it? Are there any pros you were desperate to play as missing, or are you relatively satisfied with the selection? Let us know below.
[source twitter.com, via twitter.com, twitter.com]
Comments 30
Most important player Leylah Fernandez is there so that's all that matters.
Future paid dlcs?
@2here2there The game looks like it's going to have live service elements so I'm almost certain more pros will be added post-launch.
Djokovic had issues with his digital status and was banned from the game.
As long as it plays well, I'm willing to look past this.
I've always enjoyed tennis video games whilst not actually being a massive Tennis fan in real life.
If I'm honest I don't really know who the majority of people you listed are anyway 😂
Can’t make money down the line by including everyone. That being said, playing as Federer and Serena is probably all I would need. Venus would be nice as well.
Are we going down the fighting game route with extremely limited rosters but dont worry you can buy the fanfavorite character at a premium.
Ah well, you wouldn’t recognize them anyway with these character models.
It's 2k, what did you expect? everyone thinks there will be paid DLCs.
At least the licensed tournaments are well covered.
I haven’t watched tennis since the late 90’s but even if I did still watch tennis I’d think most of these names were made up.
I can't wait for this. I still play Virtua Tennis on Dreamcast.
The first "Top Spin" on the OG Xbox is still the GOAT.
Nadal and Djokovic not in their is a bit of a miss but on the plus side, Sampras and Agassi are in the game and the overall list of Legends is pretty good. I just hope the game plays well, been hoping for Top Spin to return for a long time.
Definitely a strange omission to not have those two in the game. They are the first two names that pop into my head whenever I think of professional tennis. Hopefully they are added in an update.
They did the same with some big names with 2Ks PGA game so it wouldn't be unprecedented.
Novax Djocovid I can do without, but Nadal is a legend of the game. But there's also some great names from recent history that don't get their due, like Wawrinka, Del Porto, Tsonga, Zverev and Nishikori. And over on the women's side, Ivanovic, Hantuchova, Li Na, Henin and Clijsters. Isn't it weird that 2K can accurately model the entire WWE roster and legends, the entire NBA, but can only fit 25 players into this game?
@BeerIsAwesome are you implying that Djokovic is not a legend? Whatever your opinions on the guy's political leanings, he still does have the most grand slams to his name.
@BeerIsAwesome You know that Zverev is a current top 5 player and that Wawrinka is still reaching final rounds on big tournaments? Also, the disrespect towards the greatest player of all time is unnecessary.
I just want to know one thing:
Will Maria be screaming at every hit?
For posterity reasons it’s a shame there’s no Djokovic but man he’s such a jobbie I’m sort of glad. Still remember that match against Baghdatis at Wimbledon and him getting seriously pressed because the crowd were on Marcos’ side. The roster isn’t brilliant but the lack of a package deal for tennis makes it hard. It could definitely do with more of the new men’s crowd and also a more varied legends list.
@Darude84 @Toilet_Goat Hehehe, I knew the Djokovic one would get people talking. 😁 I was always a Federer fan myself. Technically Nishikori still plays as well, but cumulative injuries throughout his career have long since put paid to his chances of winning a grand slam tournament. I'm just glad Del Potro managed to get one (and two olympic medals) before he retired.
@BeerIsAwesome I'm a Federer fan as well. I've been following tennis way less since he retired
@get2sammyb I second that opinion about Fernandez 👍 But I’m Canadian, so I’m a bit biased. Nice to hear she’s appreciated outside of Canada! 🇨🇦
And I’m glad Djokovic isn’t in the game. Anti-vax a-hole. I wouldn’t even consider buying the game if he was in it.
@BeerIsAwesome NBA has a player’s association which makes it easier to license them all.
Also, NBA 2K is one of the best selling games on the planet.
I’m actually quite pleased with the roster overall, but DLC serving up additional players would certainly be a nice surprise in the future.
They may not be in a Tennis game, but it's only a matter of time before they're all in Fortnight and CoD.
Most probably they wouldn't pay his image rights demands, it seems agents for sports stars now want to claim image rights for everything because agents and sports stars apparently don't get paid enough as it is
All these chumps will be beat in straight sets by my career mode created character.
@Toilet_Goat Can confirm, though I have taken a liking to Alcaraz lately.
@get2sammyb Like the association of tennis professionals (ATP) and women's tennis association (WTA), right? A quick Google tells me the two of them are actually in the process of merging their commercial interests, which should help streamline stuff down the line. I get individual player unions exist, but a tennis player is not officially a professional unless they gain a single ranking point in either of the above. So it stands to reason that they have a heavy influence on players' image rights.
I hope they add Novak and Nadal, Nadal as legend so he can have his stats buffed up to when he was peak.
Also really want Jannik, both him and Carlos are the fun of watching tennis lately.
Rublev would also be nice..
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