Reigning Aryna Sabalenka Wins 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 season.
The twenty-seven-year-old captured four titles – the most on tour – including retaining the US Open in September against Amanda Anisimova to claim her fourth Grand Slam singles championship.
A Season of Dominance
Throughout the year, Sabalenka reached a circuit-leading nine finals, with defeats coming to 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 won the Brisbane International early in the season, the Miami Open in March, and the Madrid Open in May. She remained the whole season as the top-ranked player, concluding 2025 on top of the rankings for a second straight year.
In July, she became the first player to exceed 12,000 WTA ranking points after Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Historic Achievements
Sabalenka ended the season with a sixty-three to twelve match record, and collected a historic £11m in earnings.
She received nearly eighty percent of the votes submitted 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 with the aim of "help bring women's tennis to a higher level".
Other WTA Award Recipients
- Returning Star of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, twenty-eight, received the award after taking 13-month break following the arrival of her daughter and returning to the sport earlier this season.
- Rookie of the Year: Canadian 19-year-old Victoria Mboko received the award after beginning 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 selected after winning their second Grand Slam title as a pair.
- Most Improved Player 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, including the season-ending top rank award, while Jannik Sinner was chosen as fans' favourite for a third consecutive time.
