The WTA has announced the winners of their annual player awards, with Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova among those being honoured, while teenage star Mirra Andreeva missed out. Belinda Bencic was also recognised after returning from pregnancy and rising from No. 487 at the start of the season to No. 11.
World No. 1 Sabalenka was crowned Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, receiving almost 80 per cent of the media vote. The 27-year-old reached nine finals this year, lifting trophies at the US Open, Madrid Open, Miami Open, and Brisbane International.
Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were voted the Doubles Team of the Year after winning their second Major title as a team at the Australian Open, plus three other titles. They also finished runner-up in Flushing Meadows. Townsend became world No. 1 in doubles for the first time this year, while Siniakova has spent a total 174 weeks at the top of the rankings.
Anisimova beat out Clara Tauson, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Linda Noskova, and Andreeva to be crowned the Most Improved Player. The American reached a career-high ranking of No. 4 this year and made back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. Anisimova also won two WTA 1000 titles in Doha and Beijing, and reached the semi-finals of the WTA Finals on her tournament debut.
Former Olympic champion Bencic won Comeback Player of the Year after her triumphant return from pregnancy. The Swiss star stepped away from the tour in September 2023 and welcomed her first child, Bella, in April 2024. She started playing some ITF events at the end of last year but returned to the tour for the 2025 season, ranked outside the top 400.
Bencic reached the last 16 at the Australian Open and then stunned Elena Rybakina on her way to winning the WTA 500 title in Abu Dhabi while she was still ranked outside of the top 150. She also reached the Wimbledon semi-final and then won another WTA 500 title in Tokyo. The world No. 11 beat former Wimbledon champions Marketa Vondrousova and Barbora Krejcikova, plus Sorana Cirstea and Anastasija Sevastova to won the Comeback award.
And Canadian star Victoria Mboko came out on top of a strong field for Newcomer of the Year. The 19-year-old started the season ranked outside of the world’s top 300 and ends it as the world No. 18. Mboko made her tour-level debut in Miami but her breakout came on home soil when she received a wildcard into her home tournament, the WTA 1000 in Canada, while ranked at No. 85.
Mboko stormed to the title, beating Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka en route. And she followed it up by winning the Hong Kong Tennis Open to cap off a breakout season. Lois Boisson, Alexandra Eala, Maya Joint, and Iva Jovic were also nominated. Boisson went on an incredible run at the French Open, storming into the semi-finals on her Grand Slam debut while ranked down at No. 361 in the world.
Eala stormed into the Miami Open quarter-finals as a teenage wildcard, beating three Grand Slam champions en route, while teen stars Joint and Jovic won their maiden tour titles this year and climbed up the rankings.
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