Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka Claims Back-to-Back WTA Player of the Year Honors.
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 won four tournament victories – the most on tour – which included successfully defending the US Open this past September versus Amanda Anisimova to secure her fourth Grand Slam singles championship.
A Year of Consistency
Over the course of the tour, Sabalenka played in a tour-best nine finals, with losses coming against Madison Keys in the Australian Open final in January and Coco Gauff in the French Open final.
The Belarusian 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 world number one, concluding 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 concluded the competitive year with a 63-12 match record, and earned a record eleven million pounds in prize money.
She earned almost eighty percent of the votes cast by international tennis media.
On 28 December, she is poised to compete against 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a high-profile mixed-gender exhibition match in a bid to "raise women's tennis to a higher level".
Additional WTA Award Honorees
- 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 making her comeback to the sport at the start of this year.
- Newcomer of the Year: Canadian 19-year-old Victoria Mboko received the award after starting the season ranked beyond the world's top 300 and climbing to world number 18.
- Doubles Team of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were selected after winning their second Grand Slam title together.
- Most Improved Player of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after reaching five championship matches.
Last week, Carlos Alcaraz secured three awards in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Awards, including the season-ending top rank award, while Jannik Sinner was chosen as the fan favorite for a third consecutive time.
