Reigning Sabalenka Wins Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Honors.
The top-ranked player Aryna Sabalenka has been voted the Women's Tennis Association top performer of the year for a second straight season.
The twenty-seven-year-old secured four tournament victories – the highest tally on the circuit – which included retaining the US Open this past September against Amanda Anisimova to secure her fourth career Grand Slam singles triumph.
A Season of Dominance
Throughout the year, Sabalenka played in a circuit-leading nine championship matches, with defeats coming to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final at the start of the year and Coco Gauff in the French Open final.
The Belarusian also claimed victory at the Brisbane International early in the season, the Miami Open during the spring, and the Madrid Open as the clay season progressed. She remained the entire year as the top-ranked player, concluding 2025 atop the rankings for a second straight year.
This past summer, she became the first athlete to top 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Record-Breaking Numbers
Sabalenka ended the season with a sixty-three to twelve match record, and collected a historic eleven million pounds in prize money.
She earned almost 80% of the votes submitted by global tennis journalists.
On 28 December, she is poised to compete against 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a high-profile mixed-gender exhibition match in a bid to "elevate women's tennis to a greater prominence".
Additional WTA Award Recipients
- Comeback Player of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, twenty-eight, was voted after taking extended hiatus after the arrival of her first child and returning to the sport earlier this season.
- Fresh Face of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko received the award after beginning the season positioned beyond the world's top 300 and rising to the eighteenth spot.
- Doubles Team of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were voted after capturing their second Grand Slam title as a pair.
- Biggest Leap of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after reaching five finals.
Last week, Carlos Alcaraz secured three honours in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Awards, which included the year-end number one award, while Jannik Sinner was chosen as fans' favourite for a third consecutive time.
