STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, November 4, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is in the midst of capping a successful year at the WTA Finals, where she’s the favorite to win the year-end championship title. It’s a 2025 season in which she has successfully defended her US Open crown and reached the finals at two other majors – as well capturing titles at Brisbane, Miami and Madrid. Now, the talented, 27-year-old from Belarus is already making plans for the upcoming 2026 season.
On Tuesday, the WTA Tour’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, a 500-series indoor tournament that annually kicks off the European spring clay season, announced that the four-time runner up – in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025 – has entered the 2026 event, which will be held at Porsche Arena in Stuttgart from April 11-19. Sabalenka is the first player to confirm her entry.
Traditionally, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, with a 28-player singles draw, has one of the strongest fields of all of the WTA 500-series events. This year, there were six Top-10 players in the field – including the World’s Top 4 (at that time): Sabalenka, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, as well as Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff of the United States.
The Tiger is back – World No. 1 and four-time finalist @SabalenkaA will return to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2026.
️ Secure your Tickets now: https://t.co/arDVtYtc5v pic.twitter.com/ERGQYcjmaP
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) November 4, 2025
Sabalenka, a four-time finalist at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, has some unfinished business after losing the 2021 title match to Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, then the 2022 and 2023 finals to Swiatek, and this year’s championship final to Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. In addition to garnering first-prize money and 500 WTA Ranking points, the tournament’s winner also wins a brand-new Porsche sports car – something which has alluded Sabalenka four times.
“The fact that a superstar like Aryna Sabalenka has signed up for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at such an early stage is a big compliment for our tournament,” Markus Günthardt, the longtime tournament director of the Stuttgart event, said in a statement. “I’m convinced other top players will soon follow and we’ll again be able to offer our audiences world class tennis in 2026.”
Currently, tickets for the 2026 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix are available in advance via Easy Ticket Service www.easyticket.de. Additional information is available via the tournament website www.porsche-tennis.com.
