Reigning Aryna Sabalenka Wins Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Accolades.
The top-ranked player Aryna Sabalenka has been selected the Women's Tennis Association top performer of the year for a second straight season.
The twenty-seven-year-old captured four tournament victories – the most on tour – including retaining the US Open this past September against Amanda Anisimova to claim her fourth career Grand Slam singles title.
A Year of Consistency
Across the season, Sabalenka competed in a tour-best nine championship matches, with losses 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 in March, and the Madrid Open as the clay season progressed. She spent the whole season as the world number one, ending 2025 on top of the rankings for a second straight year.
In July, she became the first athlete to exceed 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Record-Breaking Statistics
Sabalenka concluded the season with a sixty-three to twelve match record, and earned a record £11m in earnings.
She garnered almost 80% of the votes cast by international tennis media.
Later this month, she is poised to compete against 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in a Battle of the Sexes-style exhibition match with the aim of "help bring women's tennis to a new level".
Additional WTA Award Recipients
- Returning Star of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, 28, received the award after taking extended hiatus following the arrival of her daughter and returning to the sport at the start of this year.
- Newcomer of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko picked up 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 winning their second Grand Slam title as a pair.
- Biggest Leap of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after advancing to five finals.
Recently, Carlos Alcaraz won three awards 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 time.