Our nominees for 2022 WTA Player Awards

The WTA will once again recognize the top performers of the 2022 season with the annual WTA Player Awards.

These are broken down into five categories: Player of the Year, Doubles Team of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year and Comeback Player of the Year. Members of the international tennis media will vote for the winners.

The nominees are as follows:

WTA Player of the Year

Iga Swiatek

• Finished the year as WTA World No.1 for the first time in her career following a season highlighted by her second and third Grand Slam titles, at Roland Garros and US Open
• Won six other titles, including four at WTA 1000 events in Doha, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome, helping her become the first player to finish a season with more than 10,000 ranking points since Serena Williams in 2015
• Between February and June, embarked on 37-match winning run, equaling the longest WTA streak since 1990
• Ended the campaign with 67 match wins -- the most since Serena Williams in 2013

Ons Jabeur

• Capped a brilliant grass court season by becoming the first African woman in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles final, at Wimbledon
• Finished runner-up at the US Open and won titles at Madrid and Berlin
• Reached a career-high ranking of No.2 in June -- the first Arab or North African woman to break into Top 5
• Qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time in her career

Coco Gauff

• At Roland Garros, became first American teenager to contest a major final since Serena Williams at 2001 US Open
• Broke into Top 10 after quarterfinal run at US Open, the youngest player to make debut in the elite bracket since 2006
• Qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time in her career, in both singles and doubles

Jessica Pegula

• Won biggest title of career in Guadalajara, a WTA 1000 event
• Finished runner-up at Madrid and reached the quarterfinals or better at seven other tournaments, including Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open
• Broke into Top 10 on June 6 after advancing to the second week at Roland Garros, and qualified for the WTA Finals for the first time in her career

Caroline Garcia

• Return to form in second half of the season was capped off by winning the most prestigious title of her career, at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth
• Won three other tournaments at Bad Homburg, Warsaw and Cincinnati (as a qualifier) -- the only woman to win on grass, clay and hard courts in 2022
• Produced career-best Grand Slam performance at US Open, where she advanced to the semifinals 
• Finished the season at No.4 after starting the campaign outside Top 70

Elena Rybakina

• Won first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, defeating Bianca Andreescu, Ons Jabeur and Simona Halep along the way
• Was the first woman representing Kazakhstan to be crowned a Grand Slam singles champion and the youngest to win the Venus Rosewater Dish since Petra Kvitova in 2011
• Opened season by finishing as runner-up to World No.1 Ashleigh Barty in Adelaide (WTA 500) and reached one further final at Portoroz

WTA Doubles Team of the Year

Barbora Krejcikova / Katerina Siniakova

• Triumphed at Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open -- their fourth, fifth and sixth major titles together
• Success in New York saw them become only the second team in WTA history to complete the career Golden Slam
• Also finished runners-up at the WTA Finals Fort Worth to end the season with an impressive 27-4 win-loss record

Veronika Kudermetova / Elise Mertens

• Rounded off an excellent campaign by upsetting defending champions Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova to win the WTA Finals Fort Worth
• Made the semifinals at the Australian Open and a title run in Dubai helping them win 11 of their first 12 matches
• This consistency continued for the remainder of the season, which brought three more finals at Doha, Miami and 's-Hertogenbosch

Coco Gauff / Jessica Pegula

• Took home silverware in just their second event as a team, leaving a trail of seeds in their wake to win the WTA 1000 event in Doha
• They reunited during the clay-court swing, highlighted by a runner-up finish at Roland Garros
• Two more titles followed in the second half of the season, with wins in Toronto and San Diego seeing them become the first pairing to qualify for both singles and doubles at the WTA Finals since 2009
• In August, Gauff became the second youngest woman in WTA history to reach the doubles No.1 ranking

Gabriela Dabrowski / Giuliana Olmos

• Built momentum in the spring with a semifinal run at Indian Wells and then winning the title at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid
• Another final appearance followed in Rome before a consistent North American hard-court swing and victory at Tokyo secured their place at the WTA Finals Fort Worth

Lyudmyla Kichenok / Jelena Ostapenko

• They collected two titles, at Birmingham and Cincinnati, and reached the semifinals or better on a further six occasions, including at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the WTA Finals Fort Worth
• This consistency saw them finish the season with 34 wins compiled across 17 tournaments together

WTA Most Improved Player of the Year: Player who finished inside the Top 100 and showed significant improvement throughout the season

Veronika Kudermetova

• Advanced to three finals in the first half of season, finishing runner-up at Melbourne (WTA 500), Dubai and Istanbul
• Maintained this consistency for the remainder of the campaign, advancing to the quarterfinals or better on eight further occasions, including a Grand Slam breakthrough at Roland Garros
• Made Top 10 debut on Oct. 24

Beatriz Haddad Maia

• Season highlighted by a stellar sequence of results on grass, when she became the first woman to win Nottingham and Birmingham back-to-back
• Broke into the Top 20 for the first time following her run to the final at Toronto in August
• Advanced to the semifinals at Monterrey and Eastbourne and three more quarterfinals

Ekaterina Alexandrova

• Lifted second and third career singles titles, at 's-Hertogenbosch and Seoul
• Impressed on clay, advancing to the semifinals at Charleston and then coming through qualifying to reach the same stage at Madrid
• Also made the final four at Ostrava, helping her end the season inside Top 20 for the first time

Liudmila Samsonova

• Embarked on 13-match winning streak during North American hard-court swing, winning back-to-back titles at Washington, D.C. and Cleveland, before a fourth-round run at the US Open
• Followed this with victory at Tokyo, knocking out Grand Slam champions Garbiñe Muguruza and Elena Rybakina along the way
• Rose to career-high No.19 in the rankings on Oct. 24

Ajla Tomljanovic

• For the second year in a row, advanced to the last eight at Wimbledon
• Appeared in five other quarterfinals across the season, most notably at the US Open and Cincinnati
• Broke back into Top 50 to finish the year at a career-high ranking of No.33

WTA Newcomer of the Year: Player who made Top 100 debut and/or notable accomplishments during the season

Zheng Qinwen

• Rose nearly 100 places during a season in which was highlighted by her maiden WTA final at Tokyo
• Upset former champion Simona Halep during breakthrough major run to the fourth round at Roland Garros
• Also reached a semifinal at Melbourne (WTA 250), the last eight at Toronto and the third round at both Wimbledon and US Open

Linda Fruhvirtova

• Staged third-set comeback to upset Magda Linette in Chennai final to lift her first Hologic WTA Tour title
• At 17, was the youngest title winner of the season
• Scored first Top 20 win against Victoria Azarenka during breakthrough fourth-round showing at Miami in the spring

Jule Niemeier

• Stormed to her first major quarterfinal at Wimbledon, beating World No.3 Anett Kontaveit in the second round
• Also impressed at the US Open, progressing to the fourth round before falling in three sets to WTA World No.1 Iga Swiatek
• Other standout results included quarterfinals at Lausanne and Cluj-Napoca, while she also triumphed at the WTA 125 tournament at Makarska 

Mayar Sherif

• Stunned World No.7 Maria Sakkari in the Parma final to win her first Hologic WTA Tour title
• Won three WTA 125 tournaments across the season at Marbella, Karlsruhe and Colina
• Finished the season inside the Top 50 for the first time, having peaked at No.44 in the WTA Rankings on Jul. 18

Harriet Dart

• Broke into Top 100 after run through qualifying to fourth round at Indian Wells
• Enjoyed strong grass court season, advancing to her first Hologic WTA Tour quarterfinals at Nottingham and Eastbourne
• Notched first Top 10 win of career of No.9 Daria Kasatkina in opening match at US Open

Laura Pigossi

• Standout result of the season was run through qualifying to the final at Bogota
• Had more clay-court success at Warsaw in the summer, reaching the quarterfinals as a lucky loser
• Ranked No.212 as recently as April, made Top 100 debut shortly after Warsaw run

WTA Comeback Player of the Year: Player whose ranking previously dropped because of injury or personal reasons and current season's results helped restore ranking

Daria Saville

• Spent almost the entirety of 2021 on the sidelines following surgery to fix a longstanding Achilles issue
• Returned to the tour in 2022, ranked outside the Top 400
• Reached the Round of 16 Indian Wells after coming through qualifying (defeating No.10 Ons Jabeur en route) and reached quarterfinals in Miami
• Had more success in North America, making the last four at Washington, D.C. (posting another Top 10 win over No.7 Jessica Pegula) and made final of Granby

Tatjana Maria

• Took time away from the Hologic WTA Tour from summer 2020 to summer 2021 as she gave birth to second child, Cecilia
• Enjoyed return to winning ways in 2022, triumphing at Bogota as a qualifier to lift her second career title and first since 2018
• Enjoyed fairytale run to her first Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon this year, before another semifinal at Seoul and making the last eight at Granby

Serena Williams

• Spent almost a year off tour, from 2021 Wimbledon to the grass court swing in 2022
• Returned in doubles at Eastbourne, reaching the semifinal with Ons Jabeur
• Her comeback in singles culminated by defeating the World No.2 Anett Kontaveit as part of her third round run at the US Open, her best win-by ranking in more than 18 months (No.2 Simona Halep at 2021 Australian Open)

Donna Vekic

• Off Tour for almost three months early in the 2022 season with a a knee injury, with her ranking dropping to outside the Top 100
• She returned to action in the spring, and strong performances in the second half of the year saw her make the quarterfinals at Birmingham and Tallinn
• She rounded out the season reaching the final at San Diego as qualifier, defeating two Top 10 players en route and ended the year ranked No.47

Coach of the year: Recognizes the winning coach for success on the court, but also for serving as an ambassador of the sport and bringing coaching to the forefront of the game.

David Witt

Current Player: Jessica Pegula

Ranking at start of year: 18

2022 Year-End Ranking: 3

Highlights:

• Pegula had career-best season and made Top 5 debut (finished year ranked No.3)
• She reached quarterfinals in 3 of 4 Grand Slams
• Made first WTA 1000 final in Madrid and won first WTA 1000 singles title in Guadalajara
• Won three doubles titles with partner Gauff (Doha 1000, Toronto 1000, San Diego 500) and two other doubles titles with different partners (Melbourne 250 #2 w/ Muhammad; Washington DC 250 w/ Routliffe)
• Made WTA Finals debut by qualifying in singles and doubles

 

Tomasz Wiktorowski

Current Player: Iga Swiatek

Ranking at start of year: 9

2022 Year-End Ranking: 1

Highlights:

• Swiatek recorded 135-day unbeaten streak with the longest-win streak on Tour (37 wins) since 1997
• Won eight titles -- Doha 1000, Indian Wells 1000, Miami 1000, Stuttgart 500, Rome 1000, Roland Garros, US Open, San Diego 500
• First player to finish the regular season with more than 10,000 ranking points since Serena in 2015
• Achieved career-high ranking of World No.1 and qualified for second career WTA Finals

 

Carlos Martinez

Current Player: Daria Kasatkina

Ranking at start of year: 26

2022 Year-End Ranking: 8

Highlights:

• Kasatkina returned to the Top 10 for the first time since 2019
• Achieved new career-high ranking of No.8
• Won two titles (San Jose 500, Granby 250) and reached her first Major semifinal at Roland Garros
• Qualified for debut WTA Finals

Issam Jellali

Current Player: Ons Jabeur

Ranking at start of year: 10

2022 Year-End Ranking: 2

Highlights:

• Jabeur became the first Arab or North African woman to rank in the Top 10, reaching a career-high of No.2
• She won first WTA 1000 title in Madrid and also secured title in Berlin 500
• Reached four finals -- Charleston 500, Rome 1000, Wimbledon, US Open
• Became the first Arab or North African woman to make Grand Slam final when she made final at Wimbledon, her first career major final
• Qualified for first WTA Finals

Bertrand Perret

Current Player: Caroline Garcia

Ranking at start of year: 74

2022 Year-End Ranking: 4 

Highlights:

• Garcia returned to Top 10 for first time since 2018 after starting the year outside the Top 70
• Won three singles titles (Bad Homburg 250, Warsaw 250, Cincinnati 1000) and the doubles title at Roland Garros (w/ Mladenovic)
• Reached first Grand Slam semifinal in her singles career at the US Open
• Qualified for second career WTA Finals (first in 2017)

Corey Gauff and Diego Moyano

Current Player: Coco Gauff

Ranking at start of year: 22

2022 Year-End Ranking: 7

Highlights:

• Gauff reached career-high rankings in singles (No.4) and doubles (World No. 1, held top ranking for four weeks)

• Made first major final (Roland Garros) and recorded three consecutive quarterfinal appearances including her first at the US Open
• Won three doubles titles with partner Pegula (Doha 1000, Toronto 1000, San Diego 500)
• Qualified for debut WTA Finals in both singles and doubles (youngest player to qualify since 2005) 

Rafael Paciaroni

Current Player: Beatriz Haddad Maia

Ranking at start of year: 83

2022 Year-End Ranking: 15

Highlights:

• Haddad Maia earned her best season on tour with career-high rankings in both singles (No.15) and doubles (No.13)
• She secured four titles, two in singles (Nottingham 250, Birmingham 250) and two in doubles (Sydney 500, Nottingham 250)
• Reached finals at the Australian Open (doubles) and in Toronto 1000 (singles)
• Qualified for debut WTA Finals with doubles partner Anna Danilina

 Tom Hill

Current Player: Maria Sakkari

Ranking at start of year: 6

2022 Year-End Ranking: 6

Highlights:

• Sakkari reached career-high ranking of No.3 and consistently remained in the Top 5
• Reached four finals, including two WTA 1000-level at Indian Wells and Guadalajara (others include St. Petersburg 500 and Parma 250)
• Made first grass-court semifinal of her career in Berlin and made the semifinals or better at three of her first five tournaments of the season
• Qualified for her second consecutive WTA Finals
• Only one of three players to begin year in Top 10 and not drop out