Zheng Qinwen Retains WTA “Fan Favorite” Title, Sabalenka Named Player of the Year

On the evening of December 15 Beijing time, the International Women's Tennis Association (WTA) launched its “Awards Week,” where it will recognize the season’s top-performing players and teams in the days ahead. Among the first batch of annual award winners, Chinese star Zheng Qinwen was voted the most popular singles player for the second consecutive year. Her semifinal match against Gauff at the WTA1000 Rome event was named the WTA Match of the Year, marking her fourth straight year receiving a WTA annual award.

Zheng Qinwen

Photo: Li Jianyi

Zheng Qinwen was named the Best Newcomer in 2022 and won the Most Improved Player award in 2023. She also secured the Most Popular Singles Player award for two years running. Despite spending the latter half of the year recovering from elbow surgery and only competing at the China Open, her strong performances in the first half of the year were widely recognized: she reached back-to-back quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami; made her first victory over world No.1 Sabalenka in Rome to reach the semifinals; advanced to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, a personal best; and achieved her career-high ranking of No.4 in June.

Off the court, Zheng served as the flag bearer for the Hubei provincial sports delegation at the National Games, and was honored as one of the Top Ten Most Touching Figures in China for 2024 due to her historic gold medal win at the Paris Olympics. Additionally, her distinctive personality and keen fashion sense have earned her a large fanbase.

Player of the Year: Sabalenka

Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Anisimova, Rybakina, and Keys were nominated for this award. They represent the current top 5 in women's tennis and the four Grand Slam champions of the 2025 season. Ultimately, Sabalenka received nearly 80% of media votes, winning Player of the Year for the second consecutive time, becoming the third player in the 21st century to achieve back-to-back honors (following Serena Williams 2008-2009, 2012-2015; Swiatek 2022-2023).

Sabalenka

Photo: Visual China

Sabalenka reached nine WTA finals this season, claiming titles at the US Open, Miami, Madrid, and Brisbane. She finished with a 63-12 win-loss record and set a new single-season prize money record in women's tennis with $15,008,519. Sabalenka maintained her position as world No.1 throughout the year, concluding the season as year-end No.1 for the second straight year. Her cumulative weeks at No.1 now total 69, ranking her 12th all-time.

Doubles Team of the Year: Siniakova/Townsend

The duo of Siniakova and Townsend, Australian Open doubles champions and US Open runners-up this season, stood out and were named WTA Doubles Team of the Year. Other nominees included French Open champions Paolini/Errani, Wimbledon and WTA Finals champions Kudermetova/Mertens, US Open champions Dabrowski/Luettrif, and Andrejeva/Schneider.

Siniakova/Townsend

Photo: Visual China

Siniakova claimed her fifth year-end doubles world No.1 title this year, tying Navratilova for the most in history; with a total of 174 weeks at No.1, she ranks third all-time. Townsend also made history in August, becoming the first mother in the Open Era to reach doubles world No.1.

Most Improved Player: Anisimova

Anisimova was the only player nominated for two annual awards this season (Player of the Year and Most Improved Player). Other nominees for this award included Townsend, Aleksandrova, Noskova, and Andrejeva.

Anisimova

Photo: Visual China

Anisimova reached five finals this year, winning two WTA1000 titles in Doha and Beijing, and reaching finals at Wimbledon and the US Open. After breaking into the top 10 for the first time in July, she qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time in her career and advanced from the group stage to the semifinals. She ended the year ranked No.5 in the world, capping off a memorable season.

Comeback Player of the Year: Bencic

Bencic took a break from competition in September 2023 and welcomed her daughter Bella in April 2024. She returned to the WTA Tour at the United Cup at the start of the 2025 season, matched her best Australian Open result by reaching the round of 16, and made a breakthrough by reaching a Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon.

Bencic

Photo: Visual China

At the WTA 500 level, Bencic won titles in Abu Dhabi and Tokyo. Starting the season ranked outside the top 400, she climbed to No.11 by year-end, just shy of returning to the top 10. Other nominees included Vondrousova, Krejcikova, Kostyuk, and Sevastova.

Rookie of the Year: Mboko

The 19-year-old Canadian rising star Mboko began the season ranked outside the top 300 and finished the year ranked No.18. She outperformed Boavson, Errani, Jonté, Jovic, and Lis to claim Rookie of the Year. Mboko reached the third round in her first Grand Slam at Roland Garros; at her home WTA1000 event in Montreal, she defeated four Grand Slam champions—Kenin, Gauff, Rybakina, and Osaka—en route to a fairy-tale title; she also won her second career title at the Hong Kong Open.

Mboko

Photo: Visual China

Additionally, in fan-voted awards, Italian veteran Paolini was named WTA’s Most Popular Doubles Player; Errani’s run to the Miami semifinals marked a historic moment for Philippine tennis and was named the best moment of the WTA1000 events; Serena Williams’ comeback victory in Washington was voted the best moment of the WTA500 events; and Jonté’s dramatic title win at Eastbourne was awarded the best moment of the WTA250 events.