The WTA will honour the standout performers over the next few days as part of awards week, which begins on Monday with the announcement of the winners of each individual award as the 2023 season comes to an end.
The WTA will recognise the top players, events, and coaches of the year from December 11 to December 15. Additionally, athletes who have excelled at every level on the Hologic WTA Tour will also be recognised.
According to the votes cast by international tennis media, the 2023 WTA Player Award winners are:
Player of the Year Award: Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek, the top player in the world, has been selected as the WTA Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. Serena Williams was the last player to receive this honour in back-to-back seasons from 2012 to 2016. In addition to defending her Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, Swiatek won six titles overall, including the WTA 1000 China Open in Beijing, the WTA 500 events at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha and the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, the WTA 250 BNP Paribas Warsaw Open in her home country, and the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun, where she finished the season undefeated. She also won her first WTA Finals title, guaranteeing her the top singles ranking at the end of the season for the second time in a row.
Doubles Team of the Year: Elise Mertens and Storm Hunter
Elise Mertens and Storm Hunter’s debut season of competition has been extraordinarily successful. With a quarterfinal finish at the Australian Open in their first event together and WTA 1000 titles at the Guadalajara Open AKRON and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, it was evident that they had what it took to be a successful partnership. made available by SANTANDER. The two also advanced to the championship match at Wimbledon and the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic in Birmingham, with Hunter culminating an amazing year as the WTA doubles No. 1 at year’s end.
Most Improved Player of the Year: Zheng Qinwen
Zheng Qinwen has experience with the WTA Awards; she was selected as the Newcomer of the Year in 2022 and has since repeated her success this year by taking home the Most Improved Player of the Year title. Zheng reached a new career high by making it to the quarterfinals of the US Open after winning her maiden title at the WTA 250-34 Palermo Ladies Open in June. Her career took off when she won a second title, this time at the WTA 500 Bank of Communications Zhengzhou Open, held in her native country. She achieved a new career-high ranking of No. 15 by winning 12 of her final 15 matches, which culminated in the Huafa Technology WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai final.
Newcomer of the Year: Mirra Andreeva
Mirra Andreeva jumped the highest in the year-end WTA Top 100 rankings between 2022 and 2023, moving up from No. 405 to No. 46. She started the season strong, making it to the Australian Open girls’ final, and then, at the age of just sixteen, she took out two Top 20 players to launch herself onto the Hologic WTA Tour with a stunning Round of 16 run at the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open. She supported this by advancing to the third round of her first Grand Slam tournament at Roland-Garros through qualifying, and she also pulled off similar feats to get to the second week of Wimbledon.
Comeback Player of the Year: Elina Svitolina
After giving birth to her daughter Skaï in October 2022, Elina Svitolina took a year off from the Hologic WTA Tour to spend with her family. In April 2023, Svitolina resumed her activities. Svitolina had been in the Top 10 for more than 200 weeks prior to her pregnancy. A month after her welcome return to the courts, she won her 17th career title at the WTA 500 Internationaux de Strasbourg. Her remarkable comeback was further evidenced by her quarterfinal run at Roland Garros and her match of her best Grand Slam performance, a semifinal run at Wimbledon, where she defeated WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Svitolina surged back up the WTA rankings in just five months, finishing the year nearly as if she had never been at No. 25.
The following individuals, chosen by other WTA players, are the 2023 WTA Player Service Award winners:
Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award & Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award: Ons Jabeur
In 2023, Ons Jabeur wins two awards: the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the first time in her career and the Karen Sportsmanship Award for the second consecutive year. The Karen Krantzcke Sportmanship Award is presented in honour of Jabeur’s polite and thoughtful demeanour, encouragement of fair play, and regard for others both on and off the court. Both are decided by her fellow WTA athletes. The Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award, which was first given out in 1977, honours her exceptional contributions to the player community as well as other endeavours. Jabeur becomes the second person to win both awards in the same year, after Kim Clijsters.
Jerry Diamond ACES Award: Jessica Pegula
The ACES Award, which was first given in 1995 in honour of former WTA CEO Jerry Diamond, is given to Jessica Pegula this year in recognition of her steady professional demeanour and her readiness to engage in off-court promotional and charitable endeavours in order to raise awareness of women’s tennis among the public, media, and local communities. With this award, Pegula is acknowledged for her significant contribution to promoting women’s sports, and she now joins the esteemed group of past winners that also includes Maria Sakkari, Elina Svitolina, and Angelique Kerber.
Coach of the Year, as voted on by WTA-registered coaches: Tomasz Wiktorowski
Iga Swiatek’s coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, is the 2023 WTA Coach of the Year because of his significant contribution to turning the Polish player into a dominant force during their two years together. Because of the partnership’s tenacity and fortitude in the face of fierce competition in 2023 to maintain and reclaim the WTA No. 1 ranking and to lead the tour in titles won (six) and match wins (68), Wiktorowski was selected by WTA-registered coaches to receive this award. Among the season’s many highlights were Swiatek’s victories in the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun without dropping a single game—a feat not accomplished since 2018 when Elina Svitolina went undefeated—and her debut as the first female champion to defend the Roland Garros title since Justine Henin in 2007.
