By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, November 10, 2025
Photo: Rob Newell/Camerasport
Aryna Sabalenka is twice at the end of year no. 1 and unsurpassed in single-season wins.
Although Sabalenka lost to Elena Rybakina 6-3, 7-6(0) in the WTA Finals Championship match on Saturday, she still emerged as a major winner.
Sixth-seeded Rybakina collected a record WTA champion’s check of $5.235 million for capturing her first WTA Finals crown, remaining unbeaten all week.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka earned $2.695 million from runners-up and that was a big part of her record-earning season.
Sabalenka ends the 2025 season by winning a singles WTA record $15,008,519 million in prize money. This breaks the previous record held by the legendaries Serena Williams which grossed $12,385,572 million during its spectacular 2013 season.
Interestingly, more than half of Sabalenka’s record prize money came in two tournaments: the US Open and the WTA Finals.
In September, Sabalenka defeated Amanda Anisimova in the US Open final 6–3, 7–6 (3) to mark a triple milestone by scoring her 100th major match win, becoming the first woman since Serena Williams (2012–2014) to successfully defend the US Open and collecting a record Grand Slam check of $5 million. The champion’s $5 million check in New York, combined with the runner-up’s $2.695 million in Riyadh, makes up just over half of Sabalenka’s total earnings from the 2025 prize.
