She has won more WTA 1000 titles than any other player in 2026 despite not winning a Grand Slam this year

The last WTA 1000 tournament of 2026 has officially concluded after the final of the Wuhan Open.

Maja Chwalinska beat Sonay Kartal in a surprise final to win her first WTA Tour title in Wuhan, continuing her breakout season after reaching the Roland Garros final earlier this year.

The Wuhan Open is the final WTA 1000 tournament of the 2026 season, with Chwalinska one of four new champions at this level alongside Qinwen Zheng, Marta Kostyuk and Karolina Muchova.

Eight of the 10 WTA 1000 champions have been different this year, and it is only Aryna Sabalenka who has won more than one title at this level in 2026.

Aryna Sabalenka is the only player who has won multiple WTA 1000 titles in 2026

Muchova won the first WTA 1000 tournament of the year at the Qatar Open, before Jessica Pegula claimed the other title at this level during the Middle Eastern swing at the Dubai Tennis Championships.

Sabalenka was not present at either of these tournaments, but she kicked off her first WTA 1000 event in style after winning Indian Wells for the first time. The Belarusian then continued her form, as Sabalenka defended her Miami Open title to become just the fifth woman in history to have completed the sunshine double.

Sabalenka’s on-court struggles have been very public since then, with it being the first year since 2022 where she has failed to win a Grand Slam title. Sabalenka’s woes have also been present at the WTA 1000 tournaments, as she has failed to surpass the quarter-finals of any of the next six of these events she has played.

This includes the Wuhan Open, where Sabalenka lost to Ann Li in her opening match at the tournament she has previously won three times.

Despite Sabalenka’s lack of runs to the latter stages of WTA 1000 tournaments, no other player has been able to win multiple titles at events of this level, with the likes of Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff both getting their hands on one title each. Like Sabalenka, Swiatek and Gauff have also not won a major title in 2026.

Interestingly, none of the three Grand Slam champions from this season, Elena Rybakina (Australian Open and US Open), Mirra Andreeva (Roland Garros), and Linda Noskova (Wimbledon) have won a WTA 1000 title this year. Both Rybakina and Andreeva have reached two WTA 1000 finals this year, but have finished as runners-up.

Where is Aryna Sabalenka ranked in history of most WTA 1000 title wins?

By adding two WTA 1000 titles to her catalogue, Sabalenka has further cemented her legacy in the history books.

The WTA 1000 category of tournaments began in 1990, and Sabalenka is now equal sixth alongside Lindsay Davenport, ahead of the likes of Monica Seles, Justine Henin and Venus Williams.

This list is led by Serena Williams, who like her Grand Slam tally has also won 23 WTA 1000 titles. Williams is followed by Martina Hingis with 17 titles, Steffi Graf, who has 15, and Maria Sharapova with 14 to her name. Sabalenka was level with Swiatek, but after the latter won the Canadian Open she has moved ahead again.

Sabalenka’s 11 WTA 1000 titles have come across six tournaments, with her most successful being the Madrid Open and the Wuhan Open, both of which she has won three titles. The WTA 1000 tournaments where Sabalenka is yet to capture the title are the Qatar Open, the Dubai Tennis Championships, the Italian Open and the China Open.

The world number two will now have to wait until next year if she is to ever get her hands on these titles, but Sabalenka does now have a chance to win an elusive tournament. Sabalenka will hope to end her season in style at WTA Finals, where she is a two-time runner-up, which is taking place in Indian Wells this year.