Most prize money in 2025: Aryna Sabalenka breaks single-season WTA record

All week on TENNIS.com, we've been bringing you stories—one a day—that highlight the leaderboards of one statistic from 2025.

So far we've featured this season's ace leaders, title leaders, biggest year-on-year ranking jumps and win leaders.

To wrap up the series today, we go from wins to winnings...

Aryna Sabalenka had an incredible 2025 season, not only capturing the most titles of anyone on the women’s tour with four—at Brisbane, Miami, Madrid and the US Open—but reaching five more finals at the Australian Open, Indian Wells, Stuttgart, Roland Garros and the WTA Finals in Riyadh.

She made another three semifinals and two quarterfinals, too.

And with deep run after deep run at the biggest stops on the tour, she achieved something historic—the highest single-season prize money total in WTA history, with $15,008,519.

The previous record belonged to none other than Serena Williams, who finished her 2013 season with $12,385,572.

TOP 10 HIGHEST SINGLE-SEASON PRIZE MONEY TOTALS IN WTA HISTORY:

• $15,008,519: Aryna Sabalenka, 2025
• $12,385,572: Serena Williams, 2013
• $11,307,587: Ashleigh Barty, 2019
• $10,582,642: Serena Williams, 2015
• $10,136,615: Angelique Kerber, 2016
• $10,112,532: Iga Swiatek, 2025
• $9,875,525: Iga Swiatek, 2022
• $9,729,260: Aryna Sabalenka, 2024
• $9,353,847: Coco Gauff, 2024
• $9,317,298: Serena Williams, 2014

Also, with $45,175,621, Sabalenka now has the second-most career prize money in WTA history, after Serena's $94,816,730. Swiatek is currently in third place with $43,640,490.

Beyond Sabalenka herself setting a new record, 2025 was a record-setting year for prize money in women’s tennis, period.

Firstly, it’s the first year in WTA history where two women surpassed $10 million in prize money—in this case it was Sabalenka with $15,008,519 and Swiatek with $10,112,532.

And Elena Rybakina, who finished in third place for prize money this year behind those two with $8,456,632, earned the biggest one-time prize money pay-out in women’s sports history by winning the WTA Finals undefeated, pocketing $5,235,000.

She beat both Swiatek and Sabalenka en route to that title.

TOP 10 WTA PRIZE MONEY LEADERS IN 2025:

• $15,008,519: Aryna Sabalenka
• $10,112,532: Iga Swiatek
• $8,456,632: Elena Rybakina
• $7,969,845: Coco Gauff
• $7,260,577: Amanda Anisimova
• $5,262,311: Jessica Pegula
• $5,253,997: Jasmine Paolini
• $4,726,226: Mirra Andreeva
• $4,357,787: Madison Keys
• $2,895,029: Elise Mertens

Watch this space for the ATP prize money leaders for 2025, which will be finalized later this month...