{"id":93684,"date":"2025-11-13T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=93684"},"modified":"2025-11-13T11:31:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T16:31:02","slug":"wta-end-of-year-power-rankings-rybakina-emerges-on-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2025\/11\/13\/wta-end-of-year-power-rankings-rybakina-emerges-on-top\/","title":{"rendered":"WTA End of Year Power Rankings: Rybakina emerges on top"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 WTA season is effectively over, and we are going to do one final power ranking after its conclusion. It\u2019s a way to review and come to terms with who finished the season on the highest note and who should be watched closely when the season restarts just over a month from now.<\/p>\n<h4>1. Elena Rybakina<\/h4>\n<p>Elena Rybakina has always had the potential to be the best player in the world, and while we\u2019re apprehensive about calling her that, we are comfortable declaring her number one in the power rankings right now. She finished the season on a high note, winning when it mattered most to book a place at the WTA Finals, then went on to win the event by beating both Sabalenka and Swiatek along the way. Due to those performances, the current world number five concludes the 2025 season as the number one player on our power rankings.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Iga Swiatek vs. Elena Rybakina  | 2025 WTA Finals Riyadh | WTA Match Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/DVlfB-pNeTg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>2. Aryna Sabalenka<\/h4>\n<p>In many ways, Sabalenka has been a steady performer this year, rarely producing efforts that could be considered subpar. She didn\u2019t disappoint in Riyadh either, playing solid tennis overall, though not quite good enough to beat Rybakina. She lamented passionately before the trophy ceremony, showing visible disappointment, but overall she can still be content to finish the year as World #1, which is notable. Due to that and her performances, she\u2019s firmly number two on our list.<\/p>\n<p><a  id=\"Mng5kASQSrZBChF7h82Iag\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2245009322\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'Mng5kASQSrZBChF7h82Iag',sig:'DAhvoXQx-lafwRswfG3lDR1ASPLeyTFw7HkU7nJYT-U=',w:'594px',h:'371px',items:'2245009322',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>3. Amanda Anisimova<\/h4>\n<p>Anisimova continues to prove that her meteoric rise this year wasn\u2019t by chance or mistake, but rather a reflection of her new reality as one of the best players in the world. She backed it up at the WTA Finals in Riyadh, once again proving her strength by making it out of the groups and beating Iga Swiatek along the way. Her performances in the latter half of the season and in Riyadh place her among the three best players in the world, and we agree, ranking her third on our list.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Linda Noskova vs. Amanda Anisimova | 2025 Beijing Final | WTA Match Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F4eACbj83KY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h4>4. Iga Swiatek<\/h4>\n<p>The WTA Finals weren\u2019t a great event for Swiatek, who generally tends to perform well at big events like those. She played fantastic tennis at times, but for the most part struggled to keep it consistent, and that has been her undoing for a while. While brilliant at times in 2025, Swiatek also looked rather vulnerable, and due to that, we\u2019re placing the current World #2 at number four. Consistency has been her strength but not anymore it seems.<\/p>\n<h4>5. Coco Gauff<\/h4>\n<p>Coco Gauff has similar issues to Swiatek in that she can\u2019t quite figure out how to be consistent. She\u2019s been solid overall, but when she needs to step up and deliver a killer performance, she doesn\u2019t quite get it done. She won the WTA Finals in 2024, and many assumed that would launch her career into the stratosphere, but it didn\u2019t happen. Until it does, we can\u2019t back her to rank higher than her more consistent contemporaries.<\/p>\n<p><a  id=\"SH3DftxlSa1jp56MNGp7RQ\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2244984005\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'SH3DftxlSa1jp56MNGp7RQ',sig:'aNtLauq_412nZgXlNsDMFnPgksGgjDiYETP3gzkDcI0=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'2244984005',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>6. Jessica Pegula<\/h4>\n<p>Another player who generally plays strong tennis but whose peak level is unfortunately capped is Pegula. She once again put forth some decent performances at the WTA Finals, but there\u2019s a limit to how far she can shine. At this moment, she can\u2019t go much further than that, which is why we\u2019re placing her sixth on our list. Until she takes that next step, this is where she belongs.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Aryna Sabalenka vs. Jessica Pegula | 2025 Wuhan Semifinal | WTA Match Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9FNoxSPBOmQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<h4>7. Jasmine Paolini<\/h4>\n<p>Paolini didn\u2019t quite repeat the iconic season she had last year, but she proved that she truly belongs at the top. Her performances were consistent, and at times she pulled off heroics, such as with the Italian Billie Jean King Cup team, who won the trophy again. She didn\u2019t look great at the WTA Finals, losing all her matches, but that had more to do with the opposition simply being stronger than her right now.<\/p>\n<h4>8. Mirra Andreeva<\/h4>\n<p>Andreeva didn\u2019t have the best end to the season, failing to qualify for the WTA Finals even though her appearance seemed almost guaranteed a month before the season\u2019s end. Despite that, she had a strong season overall, winning a couple of big trophies. With her age and potential, we\u2019re confident she\u2019ll bounce back strongly in 2026, certainly more so than some other players warranting a pretty solid number 8 on our list.<\/p>\n<p><a  id=\"lnFAskCHTOhb-uNQvbqQ9g\" class=\"gie-single\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/2245923724\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'lnFAskCHTOhb-uNQvbqQ9g',sig:'3j01xBYnldUj07XATMT6A-ciG-pFkLGwEM3mTFFP-1Y=',w:'594px',h:'424px',items:'2245923724',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>>9. Victoria Mboko<\/h4>\n<p>Mboko is another player who experienced a meteoric rise in 2025. She began the year well outside the top 100 but finished it inside the top 20, capped by a trophy in Hong Kong to close the season. She had a tremendous few weeks toward the end, and being only 19 years old means she\u2019s only just getting started. Due to that, we\u2019re placing her ninth in our power rankings expecting her to take a massive leap in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Victoria Mboko vs. Eva Lys | 2025 Tokyo Round of 16 | WTA Match Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8AT7LGtSokI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h4>10. Belinda Bencic<\/h4>\n<p>Bencic is another player who had a solid finish to the season, playing some very good tennis. We saw her return close to her best level, reminiscent of when she won the Olympic gold medal a few years ago. With more playing time, Bencic could easily return to the top 10, where she belongs based on her level, and that\u2019s why she\u2019s on this list as well.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo Credit: Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The 2025 WTA season is effectively over, and we are going to do one final power ranking after its conclusion. It\u2019s a way to review and come to terms with who finished the season on the highest note and who should be watched closely when the season restarts just over a month from now. 1. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5393,"featured_media":82857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2,15913],"tags":[6939,1766,266,2747,5595,4315,5319,3535,18273,18059,15,364],"class_list":["post-93684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wta","category-featured","category-opinion","tag-amanada-anisimova","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-belinda-bencic","tag-coco-gauff","tag-elena-rybakina","tag-iga-swiatek","tag-jasmine-paolini","tag-jessica-pegula","tag-mirra-andreeva","tag-victoria-mboko","tag-wta","tag-wta-tour"],"modified_by":"Yesh Ginsburg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5393"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93684"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93684\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93720,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93684\/revisions\/93720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}