Despite the fact that tennis fans voted for the WTA Fan Favorite Player of the Year, fans still reacted to the surprising winner.
While the player has been ranked as high as World No. 4 and has five titles to her name, it was not a great year for her. Injury limited her to a 20-12 record. She is Qinwen Zheng.
Zheng has a legion of fans from China, and the sheer numbers of her fanbase could have put her over the top in a year when the defending Olympic champion was forced to skip all of the tournaments from July’s Wimbledon to September’s China Open because of elbow surgery.
The WTA caption announcing her win was equally suprising.
The WTA Fan Favorite of 2025, picked by you, goes to Zheng Qinwen!
Fully deserved after a brilliant season 👏 pic.twitter.com/WxXrbBBeGD
— wta (@WTA) December 15, 2025
“Fully deserved after a brilliant season.”
Even Zheng herself would not classify her season as brilliant.
It is worth noting that Zheng won this same award in 2024 months after her career-changing Olympic gold medal win in Paris.
Fans Comment On WTA X/Twitter Post
Most fans remarked that she barely played this year.
They believed the word “brilliant” was a stretch saying that “fair” was a better assessment of her year.
Others believed that Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, or Jessica Pegula may have been better selections.
This GIF conveys what many of the commenters thought.
WTA what are you smoking? i want some🤣 pic.twitter.com/IhbP4evJVS
— immalurker (@1mmalurker) December 15, 2025
Other WTA Award Winners
Jasmine Paolini won the Doubles Fan Favorite Award.
Best moments are categorized by tournament level. Alexandra Eala’s run at the Miami Open was the WTA 1000 winner. Venus Williams return to the Mubadala Citi Open in Washington, DC was the WTA 500 winning moment.
Zheng was once again a winning vote getter with the Match of the Year in her semifinal against Coco Gauff at the Italian Open.
The midnight EPIC takes the crown 👑
Coco Gauff vs Zheng Qinwen in the Rome Semifinal is your worthy pick for Match of the Year.
Relive the full match: https://t.co/2RNxVTg9Gt pic.twitter.com/z8OMN11XxB
— wta (@WTA) December 15, 2025
I would argue that Madison Keys defeating two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the Australian Open final to earn her maiden Grand Slam win may have been a better choice, but the voters apparently disagreed.
