player of the month

Vote: January 2018 WTA Player of the Month

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It's time to vote for January's WTA Player of the Month!

Have a look at the nominees and cast your vote before Thursday at 11:59 p.m. ET! The winner will be announced Friday, February 2.

January 2018 WTA Player of the Month Finalists

Caroline Wozniacki: The Dane won her long-awaited first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open over the weekend, defeating Simona Halep in a classic championship match that lasted nearly three hours, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4.

With the victory, the Dane returns to the top spot in the WTA rankings for the first time in six years, the longest such gap in the history of the WTA computer rankings since they were introduced in 1975.

"I think being the new Grand Slam champion and World No.1 sounds pretty good," Wozniacki said after the match. "I'm very excited for that. It's a dream come true. Being here tonight as a Grand Slam champion, Australian Open champion, it's very special."

A first Grand Slam title for Wozniacki seemed all but assured early in the fortnight, however, as she was forced to pull off a comeback fot the ages in the second round. The No.2 seed trailed 5-1 in the final set against unheralded Croatian Jana Fett, and was forced to save a pair of match points, before she won six games in a row to keep her tournament alive.

It was one of three three-setters that Wozniacki played in the tournament, which also included a quarterfinal victory over Carla Suárez Navarro.

"From being almost out of the tournament to sitting here with the Australian Open trophy, it's amazing. It's been quite a turnaround, something I'm very proud of."

Simona Halep: Halep started her season by winning the Shenzhen Open in China, defeating Nicole Gibbs, Duan Ying-Ying, Aryna Sabalenka and Irina-Camelia Begu to reach the final, where she upended defending champion Katerina Siniakova in three sets, as each looked to become the first player to win two titles at the tournament.

She also won her first WTA doubles title in Shenzhen alongside Begu by defeating Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova in the final.

Descending upon Melbourne Park for the first Grand Slam of the year, Halep reached her third career Grand Slam final, and battled through admirably along the way. After surviving an ankle roll in her first round match, Halep saved three match points against American Lauren Davis in the third round in a match lasting 3:45 hours, eventually winning 4-6, 6-4, 15–13.

The match equaled the Australian Open record for most games played in a women's singles draw match at 48 — equaling Chanda Rubin's 1996 quarterfinal win over Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. Later in the tournament, Halep saved two match points against former champion Angelique Kerber in the semifinals, winning 6-3, 4-6, 9-7.

Angelique Kerber: The former World No.1 experienced a resurgence in the first month of the year, winning in Sydney and reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Kerber defeated Lucie Safarova, Venus Williams, Dominika Cibulkova, Camila Giorgi and home favorite Ashleigh Barty to win her first title since the 2016 US Open in Sydney, and kept her run going well into Melbourne, where she won her first three matches in straight sets.

This included a comprehensive 6-1, 6-3 victory over Maria Sharapova in the third round, before she defeated Hsieh Su-Wei to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since she the fortnight in Flushing Meadows.

A 6-1, 6-2 victory over Madison Keys followed, and Kerber's blistering start to the year was stopped only by Halep in a 6-3, 4-6, 9-7 semifinal match, despite the German holding two match points late in the final set.

Elina Svitolina: Svitolina kickstarted her year in style, as she won the Premier-level event at the Brisbane International with wins over Suárez Navarro, Ana Konjuh, Johanna Konta, Karolina Pliskova and surprise package Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

The No.4 seed in Melbourne, the Ukrainian had her best fortnight Down Under, where she reached the quarterfinals for the first time in her career.