Dominant Sabalenka Wins Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Honors.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka has been chosen the Women's Tennis Association top performer of the year for a second consecutive season.
The 27-year-old won four titles – the most on tour – including successfully defending the US Open this past September versus Amanda Anisimova to secure her fourth Grand Slam singles championship.
A Year of Dominance
Across the season, Sabalenka played in a circuit-leading nine championship matches, with losses 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 in January, the Miami Open during the spring, and the Madrid Open in May. She remained the entire year as the top-ranked player, ending 2025 on top of the rankings for a second successive year.
In July, she became the first athlete to top 12,000 WTA ranking points after 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 £11m in tournament winnings.
She earned nearly eighty percent of the votes submitted by international tennis media.
On 28 December, she is poised to compete against 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in a Battle of the Sexes-style exhibition match in a bid to "elevate women's tennis to a new level".
Additional WTA Award Winners
- Returning Star of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, 28, was voted after taking extended hiatus following the birth of her daughter and making her comeback to the sport earlier this season.
- Rookie of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko received the award after starting the season positioned beyond the world's top 300 and climbing to world number 18.
- Partnership of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were voted after capturing their second career Grand Slam title together.
- Biggest Leap of the Year: Amanda Anisimova was named after advancing to five finals.
Last week, Carlos Alcaraz took home three awards in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Awards, including the season-ending top rank award, while Jannik Sinner was voted fans' favourite for a third consecutive time.
