Top-ranked Sabalenka Claims Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Honors.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka has been selected the Women's Tennis Association top performer of the year for a second successive year.
The 27-year-old captured four tournament victories – the highest tally on the circuit – including successfully defending the US Open this past September versus Amanda Anisimova to claim her fourth career Grand Slam singles championship.
A Year of Consistency
Throughout the year, Sabalenka competed in a tour-best nine finals, with losses coming to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final in January and Coco Gauff in June's French Open final.
The Belarusian also triumphed at the Brisbane International in January, the Miami Open in March, and the Madrid Open in May. She remained the entire year as the top-ranked player, finishing 2025 atop the rankings for a second successive 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.
Historic Numbers
Sabalenka ended the competitive year with a sixty-three to twelve match record, and collected a record eleven million pounds in prize money.
She garnered almost eighty percent of the votes cast by international tennis media.
On 28 December, she is poised to compete against 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a Battle of the Sexes-style exhibition match in a bid to "raise women's tennis to a greater prominence".
Other WTA Award Winners
- Comeback Player of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, twenty-eight, was voted after taking 13-month break following the birth of her first child and making her comeback to the sport at the start of this year.
- Fresh Face of the Year: Canadian 19-year-old 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 earned the title after capturing their second career Grand Slam title together.
- Biggest Leap of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after reaching five championship matches.
Recently, Carlos Alcaraz took home three honours in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Awards, which included the season-ending top rank award, while Jannik Sinner was voted fans' favourite for a third time.