Who will win the 2025 WTA Player Awards?

Player of the Year
Doubles Team of the Year
Comeback of the Year
Most Improved Player of the Year
Newcomer of the Year

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Player of the Year
Amanda Anisimova: Two Grand Slam finals (Wimbledon and U.S. Open), WTA 1000 titles in Doha and Beijing, and a Top 10 debut.
Coco Gauff: Roland Garros champion and a WTA 1000 title in Wuhan, cementing her status as a multi-surface threat.
Madison Keys: Broke through to win first Grand Slam at the Australian Open and posted the longest winning streak of the season (16 matches)
Elena Rybakina: Three titles, including a flawless run at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
Aryna Sabalenka: The wire-to-wire World No. 1, finishing atop the rankings for the second straight year. Nine finals, four titles, and relentless consistency made her the season’s benchmark.
Iga Swiatek: Wimbledon champion, plus Cincinnati and another WTA Finals berth (fifth-consecutive).

To me, this one’s a no-brainer. Aryna Sabalenka’s season was a masterclass in consistency. She finished as year-end No. 1 for the second straight year, reached nine finals, and captured four titles, including the US Open. Her ability to sustain peak performance across all surfaces sets her apart. Remember, she was technically a set away from reaching all four Grand Slam finals and also fell in the WTA Finals championship. She rarely lost early in a tournament this year and, to be quite honest, is the lone player on the list that can say that. While Swiatek’s Wimbledon win and continued consistency and Anisimova’s explosion are two examples one could argue, Sabalenka’s dominance from January to November makes her the clear choice.

Doubles Team of the Year
Taylor Townsend/Katerina Siniakova: champions at both the Australian Open and Dubai, plus a US Open final and the No. 1 ranking for Townsend (with Siniakova finishing the year atop the rankings).
Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini: Strong clay court campaign that saw their home title defense in Rome and Grand Slam glory at Roland Garros.
Mirra Andreeva/Diana Shnaider: Miami and Brisbane titles that led to their first WTA Finals qualification.
Veronika Kudermetova/Elise Mertens: Wimbledon and WTA Finals winners.
Gabriela Dabrowski/Erin Routliffe: Three-time titlists (US Open, Cincinnati, and Stuttgart).

Because of the nature of doubles, where players rotate partners or split up after a dip in play, this one is always a bit harder to choose. However, two players stood out across the entire season both together and separately — Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova. While as a team they were consistently amongst the best and going deep, they also fared well apart. Townsend collected titles in Washington D.C. and Osaka and finaling in Toronto while Siniakova left both Seoul and Wuhan the champion, too. Usually it’s easy to identify a lone player that shined in a season (and usually it’s Siniakova), but these two were the lone two players to hold the No. 1 ranking this year. That in itself is worthy of an argument when the doubles tour is a merry-go-round.

Comeback Player of the Year
Belinda Bencic: Returned from maternity leave to win Abu Dhabi and reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
Sorana Cirstea: Climbed back from No. 168 back into the Top 50, highlighted by win in Cleveland as a qualifier.
Barbora Krejcikova: Battled injuries to make the US Open quarters and save match points in four separate wins.
Anastasija Sevastova: Came back from ACL tear to a steady comeback with wins over Top 10 players.
Marketa Vondrousova: From shoulder surgery to an impressive Berlin title and US Open quarterfinal.

This one is perhaps a favorite of mine because who doesn’t love a comeback queen?! These nominees cover the three main reasons why it can be so tough to come back — career-threatening injury, pregnancy and/or a dip in form. However, one player truly came back from nothing. Belinda Bencic finished 2024 ranked No. 913 after playing two ITF World Tour events in November to test the waters following the birth of her first child. A final at a WTA 125 in France completed her year and she kicked off 2025 with a solid fourth round run at the Australian Open then winning the WTA 500 in Abu Dhabi. That run catapulted the Swiss back into the Top 100. Her season was also highlighted with another WTA 500 title in Tokyo, quarterfinal in Indian Wells and her second career Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon. She previously was awarded the Comeback Player of the Year award in 2019 following wrist surgery, too.

Most Improved Player
Ekaterina Alexandrova: Cracked the Top 10 and reached four WTA 500 finals
Mirra Andreeva: Two WTA 1000 titles at 17, plus a Top 10 debut.
Amanda Anisimova: Reinvented herself after a hiatus.
Linda Noskova: Beijing finalist and Top 15 finish.
Clara Tauson: From promising junior to WTA 1000 finalist.

This category you could almost make an argument for everyone, but the two Russians in Ekaterina Alexandrova and Mirra Andreeva stick most out to me. My brain leans Andreeva, who while only rose from No. 16 to No. 9 in the year-end rankings, her two WTA 1000 in Dubai and Indian Wells was more than impressive. However, my heart wants to give this to Alexandrova. She’s been a player that has been known to have a big win or a consistent (but never deep) run — always losing where she’s projected. This year, she found career-best form and won the WTA 500 event in Linz and also made three other finals at that level (losing to Diana Shnaider, Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina all in three sets). The new level in form saw not only a Top 10 debut but an alternate berth at the WTA Finals where she was able to play a debut match. If she can find a way to close out some of those big matches, she’s one that could contend for an earned berth in Riyadh next year.

Newcomer of the Year
Lois Boisson: Roland Garros semifinalist as a wild card.
Alexandra Eala: Miami semifinalist and Eastbourne finalist.
Maya Joint: Two titles across clay and grass.
Iva Jovic: Youngest WTA titlist of the season.
Victoria Mboko: Montreal champion and Top 20 breakthrough.
Eva Lys: Solid debut season capped with Top 50 finish.

This might be the easiest pick of the entire award list. Victoria Mboko was a revelation from January until the last week of the season. She began the year winning 22 consecutive matches on the ITF World Tour, taking home four titles without the loss of a set. Those results led the Canadian to receive a main draw wildcard at the Miami Open, where she won her debut match before falling to Paula Badosa in a third-set tiebreak. She won her first Grand Slam main draw matches at Roland Garros and Wimbledon but the summer is where things exploded. As a wildcard in her home tournament of Toronto, she stunned the field to capture the WTA 1000 event. Her victims included Grand Slam champions Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Naomi Osaka. That launched Mboko into a U.S. Open seed, but she failed to win a match in the first four events following the breakthrough. She finally cut that with a WTA 500 quarterfinal in Tokyo and then finished the year with her second title in Hong Kong (winning four of her five matches in three sets). Mboko saw 2024 finish ranked No. 350 and is now currently No. 18 and certainly has the potential to crack the Top 10 next year.

Upcoming Tennis Tuesdays will include a recap of the NCAA individual tournament, impressive tournament runs and a look back at retired players this year. Until then, on to links!

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Tweet of the Week

Taylor Townsend and Naomi Osaka kicked their off-season by relaxing and adding their names to TikTok trends: