RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — What makes Aryna Sabalenka so tough to beat?

Chris Evert, the 18-time Grand Slam singles champion, paused for a long moment to ponder.

“Power,” she finally said the other day from the Evert Tennis Academy in Boca Raton, Florida. “I just think she unleashes power better than anyone. Sabalenka wins a lot of free points on her serve — it’s so good, right off the bat or plus one.

“What I see is how she’s really locked into her matches. It’s incredible, really. Sabalenka has added that focus and consistency to the power of her game. That’s why she’s No. 1.”

And now that power has metastasized into something far more dangerous: staying power.

On Saturday, it was announced that Sabalenka has captured the year-end No. 1 ranking for the second consecutive season. The trophy she received in recognition at the WTA Finals bears Evert’s name — for she was the WTA’s first No. 1 when the current ranking system was put in place 50 years ago.

“It means a lot,” Sabalenka told reporters on Friday. “It just tells how consistent I am as a player, which is crazy to think. If you go back like five years ago, if someone would tell me I’ll be that consistent, I would be shocked.

“It just tells me that the hard work pays off. I really hope that I will just keep doing what I’m doing.”

Sabalenka continues to chart a course toward historic greatness. The early-in-the curve comparisons are already top shelf. Sabalenka:

Is the first player to qualify for the WTA Finals as a top seed for three-plus consecutive years since Steffi Graf (four between 1993-1996).
Only the fourth player since 1972 to qualify at the WTA Finals as a top seed for three-plus consecutive editions of the event after Evert, Martina Navratilova and Graf.
Became the seventh player to hold the No. 1 ranking for a full calendar year.
In 2026, will attempt to join Serena Williams and Ashleigh Barty as only the third woman this century to finish as the year-end No. 1 for three straight seasons.

The No. 1 ranking carries with it an enormous responsibility. History is littered with players who didn’t handle that pressure of expectation terribly well. Sabalenka has embraced it.

“She’s living it, she’s loving it,” her performance coach Jason Stacy said on Saturday. “She gets a lot of enjoyment out of this. It’s partly personality, but it also energizes her. I think having that legacy, this wanting people to look back at her, look up to her, saying, `Look how she carried herself, how she held up to this,’ … pretty cool.”

No. 1 again: Sabalenka honored on court at the WTA Finals

Said Sabalenka’s tactical coach Anton Dubrov, “This kind of attention, I can say, she’s like `Yeah, I can do it. I want to show people I can be here.’ She’s not afraid or scared to show up.

“Talking about her legacy, she’s saying, `Yeah, this is me. I want to be someone everyone’s going to look for.’ ”

Discussing Sabalenka, Navratilova cited her willingness to take some time off during the season to keep herself physically and mentally fresh.

“She could have played Wimbledon last year, but her shoulder wasn’t 100 percent,” Navratilova said. “That set her up for the backside of the season. This year, after winning the US Open, she didn’t play Beijing.

“When you win enough, it gives you a lot of freedom to choose your spots and take those breaks. She’s not going to lose the No. 1 ranking when you have that much of a cushion. It gives you that rest and you’re fresher than the other guys who are chasing her. That’s smart to pace herself.”

Sunday’s round-robin match from the Stefani Graf Group against Jasmine Paolini represents another milestone. It will be Sabalenka’s 500th Hologic WTA Tour match (excluding Fed/BJK Cup) — her career record is a sizzling 364-135 (.729).

Sabalenka will carry the No. 1 ranking through to the new year. When the 2026 season begins, she’ll have spent 71 weeks in the top spot — drawing level with Caroline Wozniacki for the 11th-best total ever, with No. 10 Lindsay Davenport (98) next in her sights.

After the first two Grand Slams of the season, that looked like anything but a certainty. Sabalenka reached the finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros but fell to Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, respectively.

“It’s all about how you recover after tough losses, how open you are to improvement and to learn something new,” Sabalenka said. “When I look back in the season, I am super proud because I had tough experience at the beginning, but I never stopped working hard, I never stopped trying my best.”