Dominant Aryna Sabalenka Claims Back-to-Back WTA Top Player Honors.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka has been selected the Women's Tennis Association player 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 versus Amanda Anisimova to earn her fourth career Grand Slam singles championship.
A Year of High Performance
Throughout the year, Sabalenka competed in 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 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 as the clay season progressed. She spent the whole season as the top-ranked player, ending 2025 on top of the rankings for a second successive year.
This past summer, she achieved the status of being the first athlete to top 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Historic Numbers
Sabalenka finished the competitive year with a sixty-three to twelve match record, and collected a record eleven million pounds in earnings.
She earned almost eighty percent of the votes cast by global tennis journalists.
On 28 December, she is set to play 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a Battle of the Sexes-style exhibition match in a bid to "help bring women's tennis to a greater prominence".
Other WTA Award Honorees
- Comeback Player of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, twenty-eight, was voted after taking extended hiatus after the arrival of her first child and making her comeback to the sport earlier this season.
- Rookie of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko was honored with the award after starting the season positioned outside the world's top 300 and rising to the eighteenth spot.
- Partnership of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were voted after capturing their second Grand Slam title together.
- Most Improved Player of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after reaching five finals.
Last week, Carlos Alcaraz took home three awards in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Awards, which included the year-end number one award, while Jannik Sinner was chosen as the fan favorite for a third consecutive time.
