They are the spine of the season, 10 dazzling WTA 1000 events, featuring absolutely loaded draws.

Doha and Dubai in February, Indian Wells and Miami in March, Madrid and Rome in April and May, Toronto/Montreal and Cincinnati in July and August and Beijing and Wuhan in September and October.

Going back to 2009, they’ve played 146 of these stacked tournaments. That’s a lot of history, but in 2025 a number of players made significant inroads on the record book.

Serena Williams set the standard by winning five WTA 1000s in 2013 and a total of 13 for her career. But Iga Swiatek won four each in 2022 and 2024 and with her title this past summer in Cincinnati, she ran her total to a second-best 11 — and she’s still only 24 years old.

Aryna Sabalenka, with wins in Miami and Madrid, is climbing the all-time list with nine titles, drawing even with Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep for fourth best. It was Sabalenka’s third Madrid title in five years, matching Kvitova’s Spanish triple.

So, you think you know women’s tennis?

Who has won the most matches in this format? Hint: She’s still active. Bonus: Who has appeared in the most WTA 1000 draws? It’s another active player, but you’ll never ever guess which one. Answers below.

Not out of their depth

There were four first-time WTA 1000 champions this year, and two of them — Mirra Andreeva and Amanda Anisimova — won two each.

Andreeva became the youngest player to win a WTA 1000, taking the title in Dubai at the age of 17 years and 293 days. She backed it up by winning the tournament in Indian Wells. Anisimova broke through in Doha and, eight months later, in Beijing.

Andreeva and Anisimova joined an exclusive club by each going 2-0 in their finals. History’s only other undefeated WTA 1000 finalists: Elina Svitolina (4-0), Caroline Garcia (3-0), Belinda Bencic and Kim Clijsters (2-0).

Jasmine Paolini, 29, was the first Italian woman to win the Italian Open in four decades while 18-year-old Victoria Mboko was the winner in Montreal — making her the third-youngest WTA 1000 titlist ever after Andreeva. Kudos to 20-year-old Linda Noskova who became fourth-youngest 1000 finalist in Beijing.

Trending younger

Andreeva and her coach Conchita Martinez deserve big props for what they achieved early in the season. 

After winning in Dubai and Indian Wells, Andreeva went on to reach the quarterfinals in both Madrid and Rome. That works out to a phenomenal WTA 1000 record of 19-3 in a span of three months. That included a 13-match win streak, second best in 2025 to Madison Keys’ 16 straight.

Mboko, following Maria Sharapova (2011 Cincinnati) and Bianca Andreescu (2019 Indian Wells) became the third wild card to win a WTA 1000, going through four Grand Slam champions to do it in Montreal. She was also the lowest-ranked champion, at No. 85, surpassing Serena Williams, who was No. 80 in the 2011 Toronto tournament.

Two young lucky losers reached the round of 16 at WTA 1000s this year: Iva Jovic, 17, in Wuhan and Sonay Kartal, 24, at Indian Wells.

And a shoutout to Alexandra Eala, who joined Andreeva and Mboko as the only teenagers to reach the semifinals of a WTA 1000 this year. Coco Gauff, now 21, did it four times as a teen.

Champions Reel: How Victoria Mboko won Montreal 2025

A fond farewell

Four players with golden WTA 1000 credentials stepped away from the game this year.

Simona Halep, who played her last match this year on home turf at the Transylvania Open, is second on the all-time list with 186 match-wins, followed by Caroline Wozniacki (183), Petra Kvitova (181) and Agnieszka Radwanska (175). Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, played her last match at the US Open.

After playing in 90 main draws (sixth-most in history), Caroline Garcia also ended her career at the US Open. Alize Cornet, with 87 main draws — No. 8 on the all-time list — played her last match in San Sebastian, Spain this past fall.

Quiz answers

Off the top, Serena Williams might seem like the logical choice for most WTA 1000 match-wins, but she was a decade into her career when the format was introduced. She left the game in 2017 to become a mother and ultimately retired in 2022. Her 148 wins place her sixth all-time.

The all-time WTA 1000 winner is Victoria Azarenka. At the age of 36, the two-time Australian Open champion added four more WTA 1000 match-wins this year, running her total to 209.

She won Miami three times — in 2009, 2011 and 2016 — and took two each in Indian Wells, Doha and Cincinnati, with a lone title in Beijing.

Azarenka has played 101 WTA 1000s to date, third on the list behind Petra Kvitova (107) and (drumroll, please) … No. 1 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova with 118, after adding six more this year.

The 34-year-old was still more-than-viable this past year, forging a record of 14-14. She reached the quarterfinals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon — matching her career best season in 2011.