Aryna Sabalenka traded her tennis whites for the red carpet in Madrid on Monday night. The world No. 1 was crowned the 2026 Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year for a dominant 2025 season in which she won four titles, including a Grand Slam, and kept her at the very top of the WTA rankings. While accepting one of the most prestigious trophies in sports, also known as the “Oscars of Sports,” the gravity of the moment clearly took over.
Aryna Sabalenka Joins Sports Legends with Emotional Laureus Award Speech
Accepting the award at a ceremony hosted by Novak Djokovic and Eileen Gu, the Belarusian star admitted the historical company deeply moved her, and that she was now keeping it.
“I have goosebumps. And after, you know, like when I see the list of the winners from the previous years, makes me feel a little bit crazy to know that my name is going to be next to those legends those athletes that I watched, I looked up to, but also a little bit emotional to be honest and speechless right now,” Sabalenka told the crowd.
“I’m shaking right now after seeing all of the incredible stories. So inspiring. It makes me feel a little bit crazy to know that my name is going to be next to those legends, those athletes that I watched, I looked up to.”
She also used the spotlight to credit her inner circle. “I also want to say thank you to my team, my family, my fiancé, for always pushing me… Without you guys, I wouldn’t be able to make it,” she added.
On the men’s side, it was Carlos Alcaraz who took home the 2026 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award, after a 2025 campaign where he captured both the French Open and the US Open titles.
In 2025, Sabalenka captured her fourth career Grand Slam title at the US Open, reached the finals at both the Australian and French Opens, and, on her way to the Roland Garros final, she snapped Iga Świątek’s 26-match winning streak on the Parisian clay.
The first four months of 2026 also show that her 2025 dominance was not a fluke. Currently holding a 2,000-plus lead in ranking points, Sabalenka earned one of the hardest feats in tennis this March, the Sunshine Double, by winning Indian Wells and the Miami Open back-to-back.
Although Świątek is not the one who’s chasing her now, Elena Rybakina has risen, beating Sabalenka in three sets in the Australian Open final. By the end of the clay season, the rankings can turn differently.
Sabalenka is already in the Spanish capital, where she will step onto the clay later this week to defend her Mutua Madrid Open title.
