Dominant Sabalenka wins back-to-back WTA awards

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka has been honored as the Women’s Tennis Association player of the year for the second consecutive season.

The 27-year-old athlete secured four titles – more than anyone else on tour – including successfully defending her US Open crown against Amanda Anisimova in September, marking her fourth Grand Slam singles victory.

During the season, Sabalenka appeared in a tour-leading nine finals, suffering defeats to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open final in June.

The Belarusian triumphed at the Brisbane International in January, the Miami Open in March, and the Madrid Open in May, maintaining her status as the world number one throughout the entire year and closing 2025 atop the rankings for the second year in a row.

In July, she became the first competitor to exceed 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams in 2015.

Sabalenka wrapped up the year with a 63-12 win-loss record and earned a record £11m in prize money.

She garnered nearly 80% of the votes submitted by international tennis journalists.

On December 28, she will compete against 2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios in a Battle of the Sexes-style exhibition match aiming to «elevate women’s tennis to a higher standard».

At the age of 28, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic was acknowledged as the comeback player of the year after taking a 13-month hiatus following the arrival of her first child and making her return to the game earlier this year.

Nineteen-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko received the newcomer of the year accolade after starting the season ranked outside the world’s top 300 and advancing to world number 18.

Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were recognized as the doubles team of the year after clinching their second Grand Slam title together, while Anisimova earned the title of most improved player of the year after achieving five finals.

Recently, Carlos Alcaraz received three awards at the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Awards, including the year-end number one honor, while Jannik Sinner was voted favorite by fans for the third time.