When a Madison Keys masterclass ousted Aryna Sabalenka in the season’s inaugural Grand Slam, a comeback seemed unlikely.  And it’s true. 2025 hasn’t been the most remarkable year for the Belarusian in terms of Grand Slam wins. The 27-year-old lifted four titles, which is the most on tour this year. But consistency seemed to have been her choice of weapon this season, which has certainly paid off.

The WTA announced that Sabalenka clinched the Player of the Year title for the second consecutive year, leaving behind top performers Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, etc. They posted on X, “Two years in a row 👏 Voted on by international media, @SabalenkaA is crowned 2025’s Player of the Year!”

She defended her US Open crown in style, beating Amanda Anisimova and collecting her fourth Grand Slam singles title. Across the season, she stormed into a tour-best nine finals. She came up short only to Keys in the Australian Open final, followed by Coco Gauff in the French Open final.

Her trophy run sparkled with wins in Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid. Alongside this, Sabalenka held the world number one ranking all year and finished as a table-topper for the second consecutive year, as well. In July, she made history as the first player to top 12,000 WTA ranking points since Serena Williams in 2015, with a 63-12 win-loss record.

However, her record tally doesn’t end here.

Aryna Sabalenka sets a new all-time-high prize money record!

Sabalenka didn’t get the ending she wanted at the 2025 WTA Finals, but she’s still leaving the season with something every player dreams of: History. The world No. 1 collected at least $15,008,519 in prize money through her results this year, locking in the richest season ever recorded on the WTA Tour.

That total shatters a record that had stood since 2013, when Serena Williams earned $12,385,572 while compiling a 78-4 season and sweeping titles at Roland Garros, the US Open, and the WTA Finals. For 12 years, no one managed to touch that mark until Aryna Sabalenka powered through.

Her numbers tell their own story. The US Open alone brought her a $5 million payday for defending her crown. A runner-up finish to Elena Rybakina in Riyadh added another $2.695 million, and she picked up over $2.5 million combined from her second-place finishes at the Australian Open and Roland Garros.

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And she might not be done rewriting the record books just yet. Her 2025 prize total isn’t final, and her off-court endorsements haven’t even been counted. Even without that, she’s already flirting with the $18.7 million that Forbes said she earned in 2024 from both tennis and sponsorships. That’s some serious momentum heading into 2026. Yet to the Belarusian,  it’s not the dollars that keep her going.

“I just really have a lot of love to the sport, and I really enjoy fighting,” she said before facing Rybakina in the WTA Finals, where both were playing for a record $5.235 million. “I really enjoy pushing myself to the limit… And, I mean, of course, when you win, you think, ‘Oh actually, I’ve got a good check,’ you know. But this is never crossing my mind during the match. … But it’s a good check to have.” Spoken like a champion who’s already aiming higher, right?

As she goes into 2026 with a positive attitude, could she surpass this record in the next year? Share your thoughts in the comments below!