Royer on his progress in 2025: "It's the hard work that pays off"

In one year, Valentin Royer went from the shadows to the spotlight. From 209th to 57th in the world, the Frenchman had an exceptional 2025 season, marked by prestigious victories and a first ATP final.

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Adrien Guyot

le 17/12/2025 à 10h50

2 min to read

Royer Valentin

Valentin Royer was one of the pleasant surprises of French tennis in 2025. Starting the season ranked 209th in the world, the 24-year-old player is now 57th globally. While he shone on the Challenger circuit, Royer also defeated players like Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, and Learner Tien.

These performances notably allowed him to compete in his first ATP final in Hangzhou against Bublik. In an interview, the Frenchman reflected on his year and already has goals in mind for 2026.

"If someone had offered me this, I would have signed right away. As I've already said, I don't think there was a 'click' moment, but I believe it's the hard work that pays off. It's years of work, especially these last three years, where with Julien (Gillet), my coach, we really worked well, we improved in many areas, and I think that's thanks to that.

"My coach wasn't that surprised to see me perform like this"

Also, notably, having a mental coach: I think that helped me a lot to perform in important moments, whereas in previous years, I struggled a bit more. This year, I think there was a mental click on that.

Afterwards, my coach wasn't that surprised to see me perform like this, because with all the investment behind it and all the work put in, at some point, you get results, whether sooner, later, or whenever. So, there you have it: we are super happy with this season, and now we look ahead, we approach 2026.

The goal is clear: stay in the top 100, be able to have a full year on the main tour. After that, as I always say, I don't set limits for myself, so why not... But the goal is to stay in the top 100, perform, have a full year on the main tour. That would already be a very successful year," assured Royer for Tennis Actu.