ST PETERSBURG, Fla — The WTA announced the first set of winners in the annual WTA Awards, which honor the best players, tournaments and coach of the year, as well as athletes who have made an exceptional contribution to the Tour away from the court.
The WTA will celebrate the standout performers over the coming days as part of WTA Award Week, which kicks off today with the announcement of the Player Award winners, which were voted on by international media members.
Player of the Year
Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka has been voted Player of the Year for the second year in a row, becoming only the third player in the past 15 years to win the award more than once. She earned almost 80% of the media’s vote following a dominant season in which she reached the most finals (9), won the most titles (4), picked up the most wins (63) and set a new single-season prize money record by banking $15,008,519.
Sabalenka spent the entire year ranked as the PIF WTA World No.1, ending in the top spot for the second consecutive year. She now sits 12th on the all-time list for weeks in the No. 1 position.
Doubles Team of the Year
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend
How Siniakova and Townsend defined the doubles season
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend enjoyed a history-making season. Among many highlights, they won their second Grand Slam title together at the Australian Open, triumphed at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and reached an additional major final at the US Open. Their results across 2025 helped Townsend become the PIF WTA World No. 1 in doubles for the first time in her career, and the first player to top the doubles rankings as a mother.
Siniakova also wrote herself into the record books once again. She now sits third on the all-time list for weeks as the doubles No. 1 (174 weeks, as of Dec. 15), and is tied with Martina Navratilova for the most finishes (5) as the year-end doubles No. 1.
Most Improved Player
Amanda Anisimova
The season that changed Amanda Anisimova’s career
Amanda Anisimova was the only player this season to be nominated in two categories (also Player of the Year), which reflects her remarkable results in 2025. The American reached a total of five finals, winning the first WTA 1000 titles of her career at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open (Doha) and China Open (Beijing), in addition to reaching her first Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. Anisimova also reached the title match at the WTA 500 HSBC Championships at London’s Queen’s Club, made her Top 10 debut in July and qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time to cap off a memorable season.
Comeback Player of the Year
Belinda Bencic
Belinda Bencic is back … and winning as a mom
Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic stepped away from the sport in September 2023 to give birth to a baby girl, Bella, who arrived in April 2024. She returned to the WTA Tour at the United Cup at the beginning of the year, and gained momentum with a strong Round of 16 run at the Australian Open (matching her career-best result in Melbourne). It was at the WTA 500 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, though, were she cemented her comeback status, defeating World No. 5 Elena Rybakina en route to lifting the title.
Bencic went on to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time, and ended the season winning her 10th career title at the WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Newcomer of the Year
Victoria Mboko
From outside the Top 300 to the spotlight, the rise of Victoria Mboko
Victoria Mboko, 19, was 2025’s breakout star, starting the season ranked outside the Top 300 before soaring to No. 18 by the year’s end. Her incredible campaign began with her Tour debut at the WTA 1000 Miami Open presented by Itaú. She then contested her first Grand Slams at Roland Garros (reaching the third round) and Wimbledon, before her fairy-tale title run on home soil at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
Her success in Montreal broke a string of records, including becoming the second youngest woman in the Open Era to defeat four singles Grand Slam champions at the same tournament. Mboko closed out the year with more silverware at the WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open, rounding out a season to remember.
