Simona Halep handed Aryana Sabalenka the trophy for world number 1 at the end of the season, which she also received twice
Article by Luminița Paul – Published on Saturday, 01 November 2025, 21:40 / Updated on Saturday, 01 November 2025 21:43
Aryna Sabalenka (27 years old, world leader) received the No. 1 trophy at the end of the season from Simona Halep and Garbine Muguruza, the director of the tournament, at the WTA Finals in Riyadh.
For the second year in a row, Aryna Sabalenka he was on the first position of the world ranking at the end of the season. An admirable performance, which is rewarded every time, according to tradition, with a special trophy, presented in a celebration during the WTA Finals.
On this special and emotional occasion, they were with the Belarusian Simona Halepwhich was the world leader for 64 weeks, and Garbine Muguruzathe director of the Tournament of Champions, in her turn with four weeks spent at the top of the hierarchy.
Simona Halep: “Proud to be one of them”
A special guest and involved in activities to promote and popularize the competition and tennis in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Simona presented the trophy to Aryne. He then sent a short message on social media. “Honored to be with these two incredible champions again. Even if it's just for a few photos,” she wrote, alongside a smiley emoticon.
He also had a post scriptum. “I found out today that only 12 players in history have finished more than one season as world number one and I'm proud to be one of them“, noted Simona, who was in this hard-earned and deserved position in two of her brilliant seasons, 2017 and 2018.
In 2017, she became the first player from Romania to reach the position of world leader: this success was completed in October, after she reached the final of the tournament from Beijing. A position that she preserved until the end of that season, then also at the end of the following year, 2018, the year in which she won her first major title, at Roland Garrosand played another Grand Slam final, at Australian Open.
16players have been in a position to end a season at least in first place in the world ranking, starting in 1975, since the introduction of the computerized hierarchy, until now
The absolute and very hard to beat record of first place at the end of the year belongs to him Steffi Grafwith 8 peak seasons, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995 (when he shared the honor with Monica Seles) and 1996. Martina Navratilova has the most consecutive first-place finishes, 5 between 1982 and 1986, and 7 overall. Chris Evert and Serena Williams they accomplished the feat five times in their careers.
