Surpassing $15 million for the first time! Sabalenka breaks the WTA single-season prize money record

The 2025 season proved to be historic for world No.1 Sabalenka, who reached at least the quarterfinals in 14 out of 16 tournaments she played. With 4 titles (Brisbane, Miami, Madrid, US Open), she led the WTA Tour in the number of trophies won this year. Moreover, she made it to the finals of five events — the Australian Open, French Open, WTA Finals, Indian Wells, and Stuttgart — and completed two straight years finishing as year-end world No.1.

Sabalenka

Image: Visual China

Thanks to her consistent deep runs in high-level tournaments, Sabalenka set a new record — amassing $15,008,519 in prize money, the highest ever earned in a single WTA season. The previous record holder was Serena Williams, who topped the list in 2013 with $12,385,572.

Top 10 single-season prize money earners in WTA history

$15,008,519: Sabalenka (2025)

$12,385,572: Serena Williams (2013)

$11,307,587: Barty (2019)

$10,582,642: Serena Williams (2015)

$10,136,615: Kerber (2016)

$10,112,532: Swiatek (2025)

$9,875,525: Swiatek (2022)

$9,729,260: Sabalenka (2024)

$9,353,847: Gauff (2024)

$9,317,298: Serena Williams (2014)

Additionally, Sabalenka’s career prize money has reached $45,175,621, ranking second in WTA history, only behind Serena Williams’ $94,816,730. Swiatek ranks third with $43,640,490.

2025 WTA prize money leaderboard TOP 3

Image: Visual China

The year 2025 is a “record-breaking year” for women’s tennis prize money. Both Sabalenka and Swiatek surpassed $10 million in single-season earnings, a first in history. Meanwhile, Rybakina ranked third with $8,456,632, having won the WTA Finals undefeated and earning $5,235,000, the highest single-event prize in women’s sports history.

2025 WTA prize money leaderboard TOP 10

$15,008,519: Sabalenka

$10,112,532: Swiatek

$8,456,632: Rybakina

$7,969,845: Gauff

$7,260,577: Anisimova

$5,262,311: Pegula

$5,253,997: Paolini

$4,726,226: Mira Andrejeva

$4,357,787: Keys

$2,895,029: Mertens

Zheng Qinwen

Image: Li Jianyi

Among Chinese players, Zheng Qinwen leads the 2025 season with $1,574,548 in total prize money, followed by Zhang Shuai with $1,082,793 and Wang Xinyu with $1,005,441. These three are the only Chinese women to surpass $1 million in earnings this season.

2025 WTA Chinese players prize money leaderboard

$1,574,548: Zheng Qinwen

$1,082,793: Zhang Shuai

$1,005,441: Wang Xinyu

$733,613: Yuan Yue

$451,286: Wang Xiyu

$419,134: Zhu Lin

$386,709: Guo Hanyu

$356,069: Wang Yafan

$323,141: Jiang Xinyu

$267,205: Wei Sijia

$260,154: Xu Yifan

$256,153: Zheng Saisai

$240,558: Gao Xinyu

(Text and editing by Dato, data source: WTA official website)