Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka Claims Back-to-Back WTA Top Player Honors.
World number one Aryna Sabalenka has been voted the Women's Tennis Association player of the year for a second consecutive season.
The 27-year-old secured four tournament victories – the most on tour – which included retaining the US Open in September against Amanda Anisimova to secure her fourth Grand Slam singles title.
A Year of High Performance
Across the season, Sabalenka played in a tour-best nine championship matches, 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 Belarusian also triumphed at the Brisbane International early in the season, the Miami Open in March, and the Madrid Open in May. She remained the entire year as the top-ranked player, ending 2025 atop the rankings for a second successive year.
This past summer, she became the first athlete to top 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams did so nearly a decade ago.
Historic Numbers
Sabalenka ended the competitive year with a sixty-three to twelve match record, and picked up a record eleven million pounds in tournament winnings.
She garnered almost eighty percent of the votes cast by international tennis media.
On 28 December, she is scheduled to face 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in a Battle of the Sexes-style exhibition match with the aim of "raise women's tennis to a new level".
Additional WTA Award Honorees
- Comeback Player of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, 28, received the award after taking extended hiatus following the arrival of her first child and returning to the sport at the start of this year.
- Rookie of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko picked up the award after beginning the season ranked beyond the world's top 300 and climbing to the eighteenth spot.
- Doubles Team of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were selected after capturing their second career Grand Slam title as a pair.
- Most Improved Player of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after reaching five finals.
Recently, Carlos Alcaraz secured three honours in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Awards, which included the year-end number one award, while Jannik Sinner was chosen as fans' favourite for a third consecutive time.