LONDON (AP) — Vicky Mboko, Janice Tjen, Lilli Tagger, Arnaud Bailly and Luka Mikrut were selected by a panel as the International Tennis Federation's Class of 2025, a group considered “promising and breakthrough” talents of the sport.
The five players were revealed this week, based on their seasons on the ITF World Tennis Tour.
Mboko, a 19-year-old Canadian, won four consecutive ITF World Tennis Tour titles early in the year and went on to win a WTA 1000 tournament in Montreal and reach the third round at the French Open.
Tjen, 23, claimed five ITF World Tennis Tour titles in a row, including a 27-match winning streak, and at the U.S. Open became the first Indonesian player to compete in a Grand Slam main draw since 2004, defeating No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova. Tjen collected her first WTA Tour trophy in November.
Tagger, a 17-year-old Austrian, was the youngest WTA Tour-level finalist this season, making it that far at Jiujiang, China, in October as a wild-card entry.
Bailly, a 20-year-old from Belgium, went 60-19 and made it to nine finals in 2025, lifting his ranking from No. 802 to just outside the top 200.
Mikrut, a 21-year-old Croat, collected four ITF World Tennis Tour titles, each without dropping a set, in March and April.
Players selected by the ITF for this accolade in the past include Mirra Andreeva, Iva Jovic, Learner Tien and Jakub Mensik.
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Canada Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, reacts as tennis champion Victoria Mboko signs her tennis racket used to win the 2025 National Bank Open in Montreal during a meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press via AP)
BOSTON (AP) — On the same day his wife was last seen alive, Brian Walshe went to multiple Massachusetts pharmacies and hardware stores to buy heavy-duty cleaning supplies, a Tyvek protective suit and a utility knife, according to prosecutors.
He made the trips after internet searches early on the morning of Jan. 1, 2023, that included, “How long before a body starts to smell?” and “Dismemberment and best ways to dispose of a body.” Over the next several days, he continued searching for how to dismember a body with a hacksaw, not reporting her missing until Jan. 4, when her employer began looking for her and contacted police.
Closing arguments began Friday in Walshe's trial on a charge of first-degree murder. On the day jury selection had been set to begin last month, he pleaded guilty to lesser charges of misleading police and improper disposal of a body.
His attorneys rested Thursday without calling any witnesses, despite speculation that Walshe might testify. His attorneys have tried to cast reasonable doubt, acknowledging he lied to investigators while arguing he panicked after discovering Ana dead following a New Year’s Eve gathering. With no body ever recovered, investigators have been unable to determine a cause of death.
“What could cause a loving husband and a loving father to do the things that you heard about in this case? Could it be something that was sudden, something that was unexpected, something that was unbelievable?” defense attorney Larry Tipton told jurors during closing arguments. “Something that only a medical examiner would have knowledge of, not a man like Brian Walshe?”
Tipton told jurors not to base their decision about whether Walshe killed his wife on the “upsetting and terrifying and at times, disgusting" acts he admitted to doing to her remains after she was dead.
“There’s evidence that he lied to police, there’s evidence that he searched the internet, there’s evidence that he disposed of the body, but there is no proof in all of the evidence that you’ve heard and been presented that he ever once thought about harming the woman he loved,” he said.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, have pointed to Walshe’s actions afterward as evidence of premeditation. Jurors were shown surveillance footage of him at stores like CVS, Walgreens and Lowe’s, where he purchased items including hydrogen peroxide and ammonia. Jurors also were shown photos of tools that investigators testified tested positive for blood, including a hacksaw and a hatchet.
When questioned, Walshe told police Ana had left Massachusetts on New Year’s Day for a work emergency in Washington, D.C., though witnesses testified there was no record of her booking a ride or boarding a flight. He did not contact her employer until Jan. 4.
At the time, Brian Walshe was at home awaiting sentencing in an unrelated art fraud case involving the sale of two fake Andy Warhol paintings.
Prosecutors also connected him to items found at a trash processing facility near his mother’s home, including a hatchet, hacksaw, towels, a Tyvek suit, cleaning agents, a Prada purse, boots like those Ana was last seen wearing and her COVID-19 vaccination card. Investigators testified Ana had also taken out a $2.7 million life insurance policy naming him as beneficiary.
Friends described Ana’s final weeks as emotionally strained. Gem Mutlu, who spent New Year’s Eve with the couple, said they appeared “very much in love,” though he later learned Ana and another man had exchanged messages that night.
Another friend, Alissa Kirby, told jurors Ana seemed exhausted by travel and stressed about her marriage. The two had recently grown close, walking together and going to karaoke; Kirby teared up when shown photos of them. She testified that Ana considered moving her family to Washington and said Brian often questioned whether she loved him.
Kirby also recounted two messages from Brian shortly before Ana was reported missing — one on Christmas, when he asked if she knew where Ana was, and another on Jan. 3: “I know we did this a week ago but have you heard from Ana?”
Diana Walshe listens to testimony as a photo of Brian Walshe's kitchen is projected on a monitor during his murder trial, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Mark Stockwell/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
A snapshot of Alissa Kirby, right, a friend of murder victim Ana Walshe, at left, is shown on a monitor during Brian Walshe's murder trial, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Mark Stockwell/The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Brian Walshe listens to testimony during his murder trial, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (Mark Stockwell /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
