Why Sabalenka’s 2025 season wasn’t ranked No.1 despite her four-title campaign

Iga Swiatek’s 2025 season ranked higher than Aryna Sabalenka’s by Sam Querrey

Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson broke down the WTA Tour season on the Nothing Major Show, each naming who they thought stood out the most.

Johnson made his pick clear: “Sabalenka. She was wire to wire. She was number one in the world. She missed out on a couple of finals but she was the talk of every tournament.

“Finals of Australia, finals of the French, semis of Wimbledon, won the US Open, finals of the year-end. So for her to be number one the entire year.”

He went on: “She probably could have had a couple of other big titles but still an amazing year to be dominating the women’s game.”

But Querrey had a different view. “For me, give me Iga Swiatek,” he said. “We have always talked about how she has dominated on clay, she kind of sucks on grass, she will never make a run at Wimbledon and then she won Wimbledon this year and completely changed that narrative.

“She won Cinci too, which is historically somewhat of a fast hard court, so I feel like now when you talk about her game you say she can win on any surface, and that started this year after winning Wimbledon.”

Comparing Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka’s 2025 seasons

Swiatek also had plenty of highlights, with her Wimbledon victory standing out as the biggest of her three titles.

That win added another level to her already impressive career, and by the end of the season she’d moved up to second in the year-end rankings. In total, she now has 25 career singles titles.

The rivalry between Swiatek and Sabalenka looks set to continue into next season. Both players have shown nothing but respect for each other so far.

Sabalenka has won two Australian Open titles, while it remains the only Slam that Swiatek hasn’t managed to claim yet.