Aryna Sabalenka will have concluded the 2025 season by spending every week at the world No. 1 spot and that makes her only the third player in the 21st century to achieve such a remarkable feat.
Heading into this year's WTA Finals, the Belarusian tennis star has 9,870 ranking points under her belt. Second-ranked Iga Swiatek follows with 8,195 points. Since a maximum of points a player can gain at the WTA Finals is 1,500 and the current point difference between the two stands at 1,675, that means that the battle for the Year-End No. 1 battle is over.
In October 2024, Sabalenka replaced Swiatek at the top spot. Since then, there haven't been any changes at the WTA throne.
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In the past, six players managed to get through an entire season without losing the world No. 1 spot - Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Monica Seles achieved the feat during the 20th century. Serena Williams pulled off the feat during the 2014 and 2015 seasons, while Ashleigh Barty did the same in 2020 and 2021.
Now, Sabalenka is the seventh player in WTA history to have spent the entire year ranked at No. 1 in the world.
Sabalenka: If someone told me five years ago I'd be this consistent, I'd be shocked
It means a lot. It just tells how consistent I am as a player, which is crazy to think. If you go back like five years ago, if someone would tell me Ill be that consistent, I would be shocked. It just tells me that the hard work pays off. I really hope that I will just keep doing what Im doing," the 27-year-old Belarusian said when addressing securing the Year-End No. 1 ranking.
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Sabalenka achieved the world No. 1 ranking for the first time after the 2023 US Open but just missed out on finishing as the Year-End No. 1 in 2023 after being overtaken by Swiatek at the last moment. Last year, the Belarusian made amends by finishing as the Year-End No. 1 for the first time in her career.
