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In 2023, Aryna Sabalenka reached the semifinals or better at the five biggest tournaments of the year—the four Grand Slams and the WTA Finals—for the first time. She was just the eighth woman ever to do it.

Now, in 2025, she's done it again.

Having already reached at least the semifinals at every major this year, Sabalenka completed the set for the second time at the WTA Finals on Thursday, defeating Coco Gauff, 7-6 (5), 6-2, to improve to 3-0 in her round-robin group and secure her spot in the semifinals.

And now, she joins some very exclusive company.

Sabalenka is just the fifth player ever to reach the semifinals or better at all four Grand Slams and the WTA Finals in multiple seasons.

Only Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Justine Henin have also done that. Henin is the only other player this century. Graf is the only player ever to do it more than twice, doing it four times.

PLAYERS TO REACH SEMIFINALS OR BETTER AT ALL FOUR MAJORS AND WTA FINALS IN SAME YEAR (players to do it more than once in bold):

  • Chris Evert [1974, 1984]
  • Martina Navratilova [1984, 1985]
  • Steffi Graf [1988, 1989, 1990, 1993]
  • Monica Seles [1992]
  • Martina Hingis [1998]
  • Kim Clijsters [2003]
  • Justine Henin [2003, 2006]
  • Aryna Sabalenka [2023, 2025]

The list dates back to 1972, when the first WTA Finals were held.

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HIGHLIGHTS: Aryna Sabalenka eliminates Coco Gauff from WTA Finals

Sabalenka began her 2025 Grand Slam season with back-to-back finals—first at the Australian Open, where she fell to Madison Keys in a tough three-setter, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, and then at Roland Garros, where she fell to Gauff in another tough three-setter, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4. She then fell to another American—Amanda Anisimova—in another tough three-setter in the semifinals of Wimbledon, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

But she put all of those near-misses behind her at the US Open, defeating Anisimova in the final, 6-3, 7-6 (3), to capture the fourth Grand Slam title of her career in Flushing Meadows.

Now, by reaching the semifinals of the WTA Finals in Riyadh, too, not only has Sabalenka reached the semifinals or better at the five biggest tournaments of the year, she's reached the semifinals or better at 12 of the 16 tournaments she's played this year, period.

And it's that wall-to-wall consistency that has kept her at No. 1 for every week of 2025, which has made her just the seventh player to spend every week of a calendar year at No. 1 in WTA rankings history.

She'll face Anisimova again in the WTA Finals semifinals on Friday.

📲🖥️ Stream all the action from the WTA Finals on the Tennis Channel App!

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