Top-ranked Sabalenka Wins Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Awards.
The top-ranked player Aryna Sabalenka has been chosen the Women's Tennis Association top performer of the year for a second straight year.
The twenty-seven-year-old secured four titles – the highest tally on the circuit – which included retaining the US Open in September against Amanda Anisimova to claim her fourth Grand Slam singles triumph.
A Year of Dominance
Across the season, Sabalenka competed in a tour-best nine championship matches, with defeats coming to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final in January and Coco Gauff in the French Open final.
The star player also triumphed at the Brisbane International early in the season, the Miami Open during the spring, and the Madrid Open in May. She remained the whole season as the world number one, concluding 2025 on top of the rankings for a second straight year.
In July, she became the first player to top 12,000 WTA ranking points after Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Historic Achievements
Sabalenka finished the competitive year with a 63-12 win-loss record, and picked up a historic £11m in earnings.
She earned nearly eighty percent of the votes cast by international tennis media.
Later this month, she is set to play 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".
Other WTA Award Recipients
- Returning Star of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, 28, received the award after taking a 13-month break following the birth of her daughter and making her comeback to the sport at the start of this year.
- Fresh Face of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko picked up the award after beginning the season ranked beyond the world's top 300 and climbing to the eighteenth spot.
- Partnership of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were selected after capturing their second career Grand Slam title as a pair.
- Most Improved Player of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after advancing to 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 voted fans' favourite for a third consecutive time.
