Your guide to the 2024 WTA Player Awards nominees

The WTA will again recognize the top performers of the 2024 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:

Player of the Year

Aryna Sabalenka

• Reached seven finals this season, winning four titles -- defended her Australian Open title, won her debut US Open crown and captured WTA 1000 titles at Cincinnati and Wuhan
• Finished runner-up at WTA 1000 tournaments Madrid and Rome back-to-back and also WTA 500 Brisbane
• Recaptured the WTA World No.1 ranking in October and ended the season in the year-end No.1 position for the first time in her career

Iga Swiatek

• Won five titles this season, the most of any player on tour, finding success at Roland Garros for the third year in a row in addition to four WTA 1000 titles -- Doha, Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome
• Spent 32 weeks as the WTA World No.1, moving her overall tally to 125 weeks, now seventh on the all-time list
• Also won the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the first player from Poland to win an Olympic medal in tennis

Coco Gauff

• Won three titles in 2024, including her debut WTA Finals crown and with it a record $4.8m in prize money, the largest payout in tour history
• In Riyadh also became the youngest player in 18 years to defeat the World No.1 (Sabalenka) and No.2 (Swiatek) at the same event
• Also won WTA 1000 Beijing and WTA 250 Auckland, with Auckland marking her first time defending a title 

Jasmine Paolini

• Breakout season on the Hologic WTA Tour saw her reach her first WTA 1000 final at Dubai and first Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon
• Also posted her best results at the Australian Open and US Open with Round of 16 runs
• Qualified for her first WTA Finals, the first Italian woman to do so in 10 years
• Broke into the Top 10 for the first time, eventually ending the season as the World No.4

Zheng Qinwen

• Reached five finals across the 2024 season, lifting titles at WTA 500 Tokyo and WTA 250 Palermo
• Finished runner-up at her first Slam final at the Australian Open, at her home event WTA 1000 Wuhan, and contested the title match during her first career WTA Finals
• Broke into the Top 10 after her Melbourne result for the first time in her career and peaked in the rankings at No.5
• Also won the Gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Doubles Team of the Year

Gabriela Dabrowski/Erin Routliffe

• Lifted titles at WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF and WTA 250 Nottingham
• Made four runner-up showings at Wimbledon, Miami, Toronto, Eastbourne; four semifinals at the Australian Open, Dubai, Osaka and Tokyo; and two more quarterfinals at the US Open and Wuhan
• Dabrowski started her year off at World No.8 and ends her year at a career-high No.3 on the PIF WTA Rankings
• Routliffe started her year at No.10 and, following Wimbledon, became the first female player from New Zealand to secure the World No.1 position on the PIF WTA Rankings, holding it for seven weeks; she ends her season as World No.2

Katerina Siniakova/Taylor Townsend

• Paired up for the first time at Rome 2024; after two tournaments, they lifted the Wimbledon title in their third appearance and qualified for the WTA Finals Riyadh, where they reached the final
• Career win-loss record stands at 16-6
• In addition to their Wimbledon title, they made the semifinals at the US Open and quarterfinals at Cincinnati and Rome
• On their run to the final at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF, the pair did not lose a match, defeating the No.1 seeds Kichenok/Ostapenko and No.3 seeds Hsieh/Mertens
• Townsend started her year ranked at No.6 and fell to No.26 in June; she now ends the year as World No.5
• Siniakova ends her year as the doubles World No.1 for the fourth time in her career; started the 2024 season at No.11 and fell to No.23 early in the year on the PIF WTA Rankings

Sara Errani/Jasmine Paolini

• Season highlights include title lifts at Rome, Linz, and Beijing, followed by a runner-up showing at Roland Garros; reached the semifinals at Miami and quarterfinals at Cincinnati
• First athletes to lift an Olympic gold medal for Italy in tennis at the Paris Olympics
• Made their team debut at the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF, where they fell in the group stages
• Errani wraps up her season at No.8 in the PIF WTA rankings, after starting as doubles ranked No.129
• Paolini opened her doubles season at No.98 and ends the year at No.10 after broking into the doubles Top 10 in October 2024; alongside doubles, she also made her Top 10 debut in singles, first reaching No.7 in June and ending her year at No.4

Lyudmyla Kichenok/Jelena Ostapenko

• Opened the season with a title at Brisbane, followed by a semifinal run at Adelaide and runner-up showing at the Australian Open
• Lifted titles at Eastbourne and the US Open; further year highlights include quarterfinals at Dubai, Indian Wells, Madrid, Rome and Wimbledon
• The Ukrainian-Latvian duo qualified for the WTA Finals Riyadh presented by PIF as No.1 seeds
• Ostapenko ends her season at No.6, reaching her career-high of No.4 in October this season
• Kichenok ends the year at No.4, having secured her career-high ranking of No.4 in October 

Hsieh Su-Wei/Elise Mertens

• Made 15 appearances this season, lifting three titles as a team, including their second Grand Slam together at the Australian Open (first GS came at Wimbledon in 2021)
• Other titles this season include Indian Wells and Birmingham, also reaching the semifinals at Madrid and Wimbledon and quarterfinals in Doha, Miami and Rome
• Made their second appearance as a team at the WTA Finals Riyadh  

Anna Danilina/Irina Khromacheva

• In their first career appearance as a team on the Hologic WTA Tour, lifted the WTA 125 title at Parma and followed up with another title at WTA 125 Bari
• Finalists at Budapest, and won titles at WTA 500 Guadalajara and WTA 250 Hua Hin 2, ending the season with a title at WTA 1000 Wuhan
• Khromacheva ends the year at No.18, reaching her career-high of No.17 a few weeks earlier on the PIF WTA rankings
• Danilina ends the year at No.22, having started the season at No.54

Comeback Player of the Year

Naomi Osaka

• Stepped away from the tour in late 2022, later giving birth to daughter Shai in the summer of 2023
• Returned to the court at the beginning of 2024, with consistent results highlighted by quarterfinals at Doha and 's-Hertogenbosch and Round of 16 runs at Rome and Beijing
• Pushed World No.1 Swiatek to three sets, holding match points during her defeat at Roland Garros

Paula Badosa

• Former World No.2 shut down her season after 2023 Wimbledon due to a serious back injury
• Returned at the beginning of the season with strong results on hard courts during summer and fall, winning Washington, D.C. and making semifinals at Cincinnati, quarterfinals at the US Open, semifinals at Beijing and semifinals at Ningbo

Karolina Muchova

• Underwent wrist surgery in February and returned at Eastbourne four months later, reaching the quarterfinals
• Closed the season by making the final at Palermo, semifinals at the US Open, final of Beijing and semifinals at Ningbo

Amanda Anisimova

• Took time away from tennis in May 2023 for personal reasons, returning during the Australian swing this season
• Reached Round of 16 at the Australian Open and her biggest career final at WTA 1000 Toronto

Emma Raducanu

• Shut down her 2023 season in April and underwent various surgeries
• Returned in 2024 with consistent results, including semifinals at Nottingham, quarterfinals at Eastbourne and Round of 16 at Wimbledon

Newcomer of the Year

Lulu Sun

• Started the season at No.214 but had cracked the Top 40 by September
• Highlights include a Wimbledon quarterfinal run on her debut there (first New Zealand woman to ever reach that stage at Wimbledon in the Open Era) and reaching the final of WTA 500 Monterrey
• Scored her first Top 10 win over No.8 Zheng Qinwen at Wimbledon

Erika Andreeva

• Reached quarterfinals at Monterrey, where she scored her first Top 20 win over No.11 Collins
• Also posted a strong Round of 16 result at Wuhan, where she defeated her sister, No.19 Mirra Andreeva, for her second Top 20 win of her career

Rebecca Sramkova

• Made her Top 100 and then Top 50 debut across the 2024 season
• Won her first WTA title at Hua Hin 2 and also enjoyed runner-up finishes at Jiujiang and Monastir

Zeynep Sonmez

• Lifted the WTA 250 title at Merida and also made the quarterfinals at Monastir
• Scored her first three Top 50 wins across the season and broke into the Top 100 for the first time in her career

Sonay Kartal

• Won her debut WTA title at Monastir
• As a qualifier, reached the third round at Wimbledon for the first time
• Posted her first Top 50 win of her career at Wimbledon, over No.31 Cirstea

Most Improved Player of the Year

Emma Navarro

• Opened her season with a semifinal run at Auckland and her first career title at Hobart; made semifinals at San Diego, Bad Homburg, Toronto, Monterrey and the US Open, and quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Wimbledon
• Recorded her first career Top 3 wins, defeating No.3 Gauff (at the US Open and Wimbledon) and then-No.2 Sabalenka (at Indian Wells)
• Started the year ranked No.31 on the PIF WTA Rankings and ends the year as World No.8 after making her Top 10 debut in September

Anna Kalinskaya

• Reached her first WTA 1000 final at Dubai, where she defeated then-World No.1 Swiatek in the semifinal and made a runner-up showing at WTA 500 Berlin
• Reached her first career Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open and achieved her second Round of 16 appearance at Wimbledon
• Holds a 7-2 record against Top 10 players this season, defeating the current Top 3 (Swiatek at Dubai, Gauff at Dubai, and Sabalenka at Berlin via retirement)
• Opened the year ranked No.80 on the PIF WTA Rankings, broke into the Top 20, and reached a career-high of No.11 in October; she ends the year ranked at No.14

Danielle Collins

• Lifted her first WTA 1000 title at Miami and followed up with a title at WTA 500 Charleston; these were her first titles since San Jose in 2021
• Additional season highlights include a quarterfinal run as a qualifier at Doha, a semifinal run at Rome, a runner-up showing at Strasbourg and a quarterfinal run at the Paris Olympics
• Started the season ranked No.54 on the PIF WTA Rankings, returned to the Top 10 for the first time since August 2022 by reaching No.8 in August, and ends the year at No.11

Diana Shnaider

• Lifted her first four career titles this season on different surfaces: Hua Hin 1 (hard), Bad Homburg (grass), Budapest (clay) and Hong Kong (hard)
• Recorded her career-first Top 10 win against then-No.2 Gauff at Toronto
• Additional highlights include semifinals at Toronto, Seoul, Tokyo, and quarterfinals at Birmingham; also won the WTA 125 title in Paris and reached the final at WTA 125 Charleston; won the silver medal in doubles at the Paris Olympics alongside Mirra Andreeva
• Started the season ranked No.97, briefly dropped out of the Top 100 and now finishes the year at No.13, reaching a career-high of No.12 on the PIF WTA Rankings

Marta Kostyuk

• Season highlights include opening the season with consecutive quarterfinal runs at Adelaide and the Australian Open and three consecutive successful weeks with a runner-up showing at San Diego, a semifinal at Indian Wells and another runner-up run at Stuttgart; made quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics and Seoul
• Made her first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance at the Australian Open
• Started the season ranked No.38, reached her career-high ranking of No.16 in June and ends her season at No.18 on the PIF WTA Rankings