Aryna Sabalenka beats Carlos Alcaraz to little-known award as she joins exclusive club
Aryna Sabalenka has toppled some of sport's biggest stars, including fellow tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz, to win an award not many people are aware of.
After winning her third and fourth Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open and US Open in 2025, Sabalenka has struggled to continue her exceptional performances in 2026, failing to win a major title and slipping down to world No. 2 in the WTA rankings.
Sabalenka was beaten in the US Open final by newly crowned number one Elina Rybakina in September. A disappointing 2026 continued when she suffered a second-round exit to Nikola Bartunkova at the China Open earlier this month before losing in the first round to Ann Li at the Wuhan Open.
Aryna Sabalenka crowned the most marketable athlete of 2026
While her struggles on the court continue to dominate the headlines, the 28-year-old has enjoyed success away from the sport and was named the Most Marketable Athlete of 2026 at SportsPro’s 17th annual list of the award.
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The Belarusian earned a whopping $30million from tournament winnings and off-court income in 2025, including endorsement deals with global brands such as Nike, Wilson, Gucci, Emirates, Audemars Piguet, Whoop, and Stella Artois
She topped the list ahead of fellow tennis sensation Alcaraz (fifth) and joins joins Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lewis Hamilton, and other WTA stars Naomi Osaka and Genie Bouchard as previous athletes to be named the most marketable since the list began in 2010.
Sabalenka scored 80.95 out of a 100-point NorthStar ‘marketability score’, which is broken down into three pillars – brand equity, momentum, and commercial trajectory.
The former world No. 1 scored 37.78 out of a possible 45 for brand equity, a tag for how “strong, trusted and far-reaching” an athlete’s brand is today.
She also scored 29.88 out of 40 for momentum, based on how quickly her value is growing right now, as well as 13.29 out of 15 for trajectory, which is how much room there still is for commercial growth.
Remarkably, Sabalenka became the fourth woman and third tennis player to top SportsPro’s ranking since its debut 16 years ago and continues to excel commercially.
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How Aryna Sabalenka can still become world No. 1 without winning another match in 2026
Winning an award for her achievements away from tennis will only fuel the Belarusian to reach the peak of her powers on the court once more.
Sabalenka surrendered her position as world No. 1 after 99 weeks at the top in September and is currently 2000 ranking points behind Rybakina in second.
There is, however, a small chance that Sabalenka can reclaim her position as world No. 1 before the year ends, but she needs her rival to go out in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open.
Rybakina has received a bye into the second round of the Japanese tournament, and she will play Yulia Putintseva on Centre Court tomorrow (October 29).
But even if the 27-year-old crashes out to Putintseva at the WTA 500 tournament, Sabalenka would still have to have a perfect end to her season in order to become world No 1.
That means winning all five of her matches at the WTA Finals to lift the trophy, though given Rybakina's sensational form this year, she is unlikely to even get an opportunity to return to the summit.
Topics: Tennis
Thomas Griffin