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Aryna Sabalenka breaks Serena Williams record with opening win at WTA Finals

Originally posted on HITC | By Cameron Greenlees | Last updated Nov 3, 2025 10:53 AM ET

Aryna Sabalenka kicked off her WTA Finals campaign with a comfortable straight-sets win in her first round-robin match.

The Belarusian, who was presented with the year-end number one trophy before taking the court, defeated Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-1 to start strong in Riyadh.

Sabalenka is part of the Stefanie Graf group at this year’s Finals, alongside Paolini, Jessica Pegula and 2024 champion Coco Gauff.

She had another milestone to celebrate as well, breaking one of Serena Williams’ long-standing records on top of her opening win over Paolini.

Aryna Sabalenka breaks Serena Williams’ record for single-season prize money

Sabalenka and Paolini each earned $355,000 just for stepping onto the court at the WTA Finals.

But Sabalenka’s victory added another $355,000 to her total, pushing her 2025 season earnings to a new high of $13,008,519.

Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images

That figure surpasses Serena Williams’ previous record for the most prize money won in a single WTA season. Williams set the mark in 2013 with $12,385,572.

In 2013, Williams had one of her best seasons on tour, winning three Grand Slam titles and two WTA 1000 crowns.

Player	Year	Prize Money Won
Aryna Sabalenka	2025	$13,008,519
Serena Williams	2013	$12,385,572
Ashleigh Barty	2019	$11,307,587
Serena Williams	2015	$10,582,642
Angelique Kerber	2016	$10,136,615

Sabalenka’s 2025 season has featured a US Open triumph, two major runner-up finishes, as well as two WTA 1000 titles.

A look back at Aryna Sabalenka’s history at the WTA Finals

This is Sabalenka’s fifth appearance at the year-end tournament. She first played in 2021 when she exited during the group stage after losses to Paula Badosa and Maria Sakkari and only managed one win over Iga Swiatek.

She made a deeper run in 2022 when she reached the final after taking down Ons Jabeur, Pegula, and Swiatek before losing to Caroline Garcia. In that championship match, however she lost in straight sets by scores of 7-6 and 6-4.

Over the next two years from there she reached back-to-back semifinals before coming into this year looking to break through with an outright victory for the first time ever.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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