Reigning Sabalenka Claims Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Awards.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka has been selected the Women's Tennis Association player of the year for a second straight year.
The twenty-seven-year-old captured four titles – the most on tour – which included successfully defending the US Open this past September against Amanda Anisimova to earn her fourth career Grand Slam singles title.
A Year of Dominance
Throughout the year, Sabalenka reached a tour-best nine finals, with defeats coming against Madison Keys in the Australian Open final at the start of the year and Coco Gauff in June's French Open final.
The Belarusian also won the Brisbane International early in the season, the Miami Open in March, and the Madrid Open in May. She spent the whole season as the world number one, finishing 2025 atop the rankings for a second successive year.
In July, she achieved the status of being the first player to exceed 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Historic Statistics
Sabalenka finished the season with a 63-12 match record, and earned a historic £11m in tournament winnings.
She earned almost 80% of the votes submitted by global tennis journalists.
On 28 December, she is scheduled to face 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in a high-profile mixed-gender exhibition match in a bid to "elevate women's tennis to a higher level".
Additional WTA Award Winners
- Comeback Player of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, twenty-eight, received the award after taking 13-month break following the birth of her daughter and returning to the sport at the start of this year.
- Rookie of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko received the award after starting the season ranked beyond the world's top 300 and rising to world number 18.
- Doubles Team 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 received the accolade after advancing to five championship matches.
Recently, Carlos Alcaraz secured three honours 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.
