The 2025 season is in the books, and it was one for the ages. In a remarkable display of parity and depth, five different players won the four majors and the WTA Finals title.

The swings all told their own unique stories, from the hard courts to the clay to the grass and back to the hard courts, culminating with a memorable week in Riyadh.

With the offseason officially underway, we’re looking back at the top moments, biggest surprises, best matches and more from the year that was. 

In the final installment of our year-end roundtable series, we’re making our picks for the best player of 2025.

The rest of the roundtable series: Best moment of ’25 | Biggest surprise of ’25 | Best tournament of ’25 | Best match of ’25

Brad Kallet: This question was very much up for debate through the end of the summer. Then the US Open happened. Aryna Sabalenka won her second straight Slam in New York, dropping just one set in the process and solidifying her place at the top. She won 14 of her final 16 matches and also returned to the WTA Finals title match.

Sabalenka ended the season No. 1 for the second straight year after going wire to wire, accumulated nearly 2,500 more points than second-ranked Iga Swiatek and won the most matches of any player on tour (63). There is no debate anymore. 

Alex Macpherson: In singles, it’s hard to argue with Sabalenka’s stats versus the field: the World No. 1 had the most titles (four), the most match wins (63) and the most Top 10 victories (15). But she also ended 2025 with a losing record in finals (4-5), and several key opportunities to take her resume to the next level slipped through her fingers: no Australian Open hat trick, no Roland Garros or WTA Finals titles, no back-to-back tournament wins.

So I’m going to turn to doubles and give props to Katerina Siniakova, who ended No. 1 in the world for the fifth time, tying Martina Navratilova. The Czech won her 10th major title at the Australian Open, one of four trophies this year with three different partners, and her 168 weeks at the top spot are the third-most in rankings history. Can she overtake second-placed Liezel Huber’s 199 weeks? Still only 29, Siniakova has entered the stage of her career where she’s playing for history.

Siniakova and Townsend capture first WTA 1000 as a team in Dubai

Greg Garber: Look no further than No. 1. Sabalenka took over that top ranking more than a year ago and, despite some high-profile setbacks, never relinquished it. She lost the Australian Open and French Open finals, to Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, respectively, and got bounced in the semifinals at Wimbledon. For a player as hard-wired as Sabalenka, these were massively disappointing setbacks. She came back to win the US Open title, beating Amanda Anisimova in a competitive match. That set her up for a third straight year at No. 1 in 2026.

Noah Poser: It says a lot about the depth of the Hologic WTA Tour in 2025 when the consensus best singles player “only” won one of the seasons’ big five titles. But alas, this was by far the easiest decision of this exercise, as Sabalenka was the wire-to-wire world No. 1, one of just seven women to achieve that feat.

She was able to capture her fourth Grand Slam singles title, defeating Anisimova in straight sets in the US Open final. She also reached finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Her worst performance in a major came at Wimbledon, where she “only” reached the semifinals. She also won WTA 1000 titles in Miami and Madrid, and ended the year with another big final at the WTA Finals. Sabalenka was consistently excellent in 2025.

Cole Bambini: When the same player has held the No. 1 ranking for the entirety of a season, it’s hard to make the case that anyone was better. Sabalenka has held the No. 1 ranking since October 2024, and didn’t relinquish it at any point this season. At the Slams, she finished as runner-up twice (Australian Open and French Open), reached the semifinals (Wimbledon) and defended her crown at the US Open. That’s in addition to her titles in Miami (1000), Madrid (1000) and Brisbane (500). Sabalenka’s total prize money in 2025 set a new WTA single-season record, surpassing Serena Williams’ 2013 mark. 

Matt Wilansky: How do you pick against the wire-to-wire World No. 1? How could you possibly go against the tour leader in titles? Against the US Open champ, the year’s tone-setter, the player who spent all season making hard things look routine? Yes, she fell in two Slam finals and the WTA Finals title match — three tough ones — but she still reached nine finals overall, the most on tour. Sixty-three match-wins, 15 victories over Top 10 opponents — both the most on tour. Anything but a nod to Sabalenka is a stretch even Pilates can’t fix.