WTA World No. 5 doubles player Elise Mertens unboxed her well-earned Christmas present from last month’s WTA Finals. With partner Veronika Kudermetova, Mertens won her second WTA Finals title.
Unbeknowst to tennis fans, the players do not take that trophy (or a keepsake version of it) with them immediately after the win. It is shipped to their homes.
Mertens received her special package in Belgium and showed fans video footage of her unboxing it with her dogs.
How Many Dogs Does Elise Mertens Have?
The trophy is almost secondary to the assortment of beautiful dogs Mertens owns.
They are in and out of the picture so frequently that fans were guessing and losing count of how many she has.
Check it out.
Elise Mertens received her WTA finals trophy and celebrated with the cutest bunch! 🥰 ❤️ #Furbabies pic.twitter.com/lUlHY2QM7s
— LaWanda (@lawanda50) December 23, 2025
At last count, we think there are five of them, and they are so cute that we wonder how much Mertens misses them while on the road with the arduous 11-month tennis schedule.
Elise Mertens In 2026
Mertens turned 30 in mid November, and she is one of those players that has been quietly successful for years yet no one talks about her.
With former Belgian player and current boyfriend Christophyer Heyman as her coach, Mertens joined the double digit singles (10) and doubles (23) titles club in 2025. (Coco Gauff also joined the elusive group in 2025 which includes Steffi Graf, Pam Shriver, Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams.)
As a testament to her longevity, Mertens has notched over 400 wins in each discipline matching Shriver, Navratilova, and Hingis.
She was the 2018 Australian Open singles semifinalist and has earned five Grand Slam wins with three different partners including singles World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka (2), doubles legend Hsieh Su-wei (2), and Kudermetova (1).
Mertens reunited with Kudermetova in 2025 after a two year break and earned two big wins at Wimbledon and the WTA Finals.
