WTA Awards 2023: Iga Swiatek wins Player of the Year for second straight year, replicates Serena Williams
Iga Swiatek finished 2023 with six titles, including a major at the French Open and season-ending WTA Finals.
World No 1 Iga Swiatek has been voted Player of the Year by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 2023. She has bagged the accolade for a second year running in a season where she won the Roland Garros title, the WTA Finals, four other WTA titles (Beijing, Doha, Stuttgart and Warsaw). She finished the year as World No 1.
Swiatek is the first player since legendary Serena Williams to win back-to-back WTA Player of the Year awards. The American player had clinched the year-ending accolade for four straight years between 2012 and 2016.
Swiatek beat out the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula to win the award. Sabalenka and Gauff also won Grand Slam titles in 2023. The Belarusian player won the Australian Open while Gauff triumphed at her home major to lift the US Open title at Flushing Meadows.
More from Tennis NewsThe Doubles Team of the Year Award went to Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens, who won two WTA 1000 titles in 2023.
Zheng Qinwen was awarded the Most Improved Player. The 21-year-old won her maiden WTA title in Palermo, and finished the year by winning the gold medal at the Asian Games and reaching the final of the WTA Elite Trophy.
Mirra Andreeva was awarded the WTA Newcomer of the Year. The 16-year-old broke into the top-50 rankings after starting the year outside the top-400.
Elina Svitolina won the award for the Comeback Player of the Year, having returned to action in April following a maternity break. The Ukrainian player won a title just a month after her return to court in Strasbourg. Her comeback continued with a surge to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, semi-finals of Wimbledon. She beat Swiatek on the way to the last-four at the All England Club.
WTA Awards 2023:
Player of the Year: Iga Swiatek
Doubles Team of the Year: Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens
Most Improved Player of the Year: Zheng Qinwen
Newcomer of the Year: Mirra Andreeva
Comeback Player of the Year: Elina Svitolina
Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award & Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award: Ons Jabeur
Jerry Diamond ACES Award: Jessica Pegula
Coach of the Year: Tomasz Wiktorowski
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