Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka Wins 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 year.
The 27-year-old won four titles – the most on tour – which included successfully defending the US Open this past September versus Amanda Anisimova to secure her fourth career Grand Slam singles triumph.
A Year of Dominance
Throughout the year, Sabalenka played in a circuit-leading nine finals, with losses 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 on top of the rankings for a second straight year.
In July, she achieved the status of being the first player to exceed 12,000 WTA ranking points after Serena Williams in 2015.
Record-Breaking Numbers
Sabalenka concluded the season with a sixty-three to twelve match record, and picked up a historic eleven million pounds in tournament winnings.
She received nearly eighty percent of the votes cast by international tennis media.
On 28 December, she is poised to compete against 2022 Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios in a high-profile mixed-gender exhibition match with the aim of "elevate women's tennis to a greater prominence".
Other WTA Award Recipients
- Returning Star of the Year: Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, twenty-eight, received the award after taking extended hiatus following the arrival of her daughter and returning to the sport at the start of this year.
- Rookie of the Year: Canadian teenager Victoria Mboko was honored with the award after starting the season positioned beyond the world's top 300 and soaring to the eighteenth spot.
- Partnership of the Year: Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were selected after securing their second career Grand Slam title as a pair.
- Most Improved Player of the Year: Amanda Anisimova received the accolade after making five championship matches.
Last week, Carlos Alcaraz won 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 time.
