Top-ranked Sabalenka Secures Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Awards.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka has been selected the Women's Tennis Association top performer of the year for a second successive season.
The 27-year-old captured four tournament victories – the most on tour – which included retaining the US Open in September against Amanda Anisimova to claim her fourth Grand Slam singles championship.
A Season of Dominance
Across the season, Sabalenka competed in a circuit-leading nine championship matches, 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 star player also triumphed at the Brisbane International in January, the Miami Open in March, and the Madrid Open in May. She spent the entire year as the world number one, ending 2025 atop the rankings for a second successive year.
This past summer, she achieved the status of being the first player to top 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Record-Breaking Numbers
Sabalenka finished the competitive year with a 63-12 win-loss record, and earned a historic £11m in prize money.
She earned nearly eighty percent of the votes submitted by global tennis journalists.
On 28 December, she is poised to compete against 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a high-profile mixed-gender exhibition match with the aim of "elevate women's tennis to a greater prominence".
Additional WTA Award Recipients
- Returning Star of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, twenty-eight, was voted after taking extended hiatus following the arrival of her first child 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 starting the season ranked beyond the world's top 300 and soaring to world number 18.
- Doubles Team of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend earned the title after winning their second Grand Slam title together.
- Most Improved Player of the Year: Amanda Anisimova was named after making five finals.
Last week, Carlos Alcaraz took home 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 time.
