Stats Corner: Noteworthy Newcomers Of Year
Published December 06, 2011 12:00
Irina-Camelia Begu opened a lot of eyes by reaching her first two WTA finals in Marbella and Budapest this year, and saw her ranking go from outside the Top 200 at the start of 2011 to No.40 at the end. That resulted in her being named WTA Newcomer of the Year last month. If history is any indication, she will likely have a great deal of success ahead of her. Here are some of the accolades the previous 34 Newcomers of the Year have achieved:
Thirteen won majors:
| Player | Majors |
| Tracy Austin | 2 |
| Gabriela Sabatini | 1 |
| Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario | 4 |
| Conchita Martínez | 1 |
| Jennifer Capriati | 3 |
| Iva Majoli | 1 |
| Martina Hingis | 5 |
| Venus Williams | 7 |
| Serena Williams | 13 |
| Kim Clijsters | 4 |
| Svetlana Kuznetsova | 2 |
| Maria Sharapova | 3 |
| Petra Kvitova | 1 |
Nine got to No.1 in the world:
| Player | Won Newcomer Award | Reached No.1 |
| Tracy Austin | 1977 | April 1980 |
| Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario | 1987 | February 1995 |
| Jennifer Capriati | 1990 | October 2001 |
| Martina Hingis | 1995 | March 1997 |
| Venus Williams | 1997 | February 2002 |
| Serena Williams | 1998 | July 2002 |
| Kim Clijsters | 1999 | August 2003 |
| Maria Sharapova | 2003 | August 2005 |
| Caroline Wozniacki | 2008 | October 2010 |
Several didn't win a Slam or get to No.1 but achieved a lot:
| Player | Career Highlight(s) |
| Pam Shriver | Reached No.3 in world; '78 US Open R-up |
| Kathy Jordan | Reached No.5 in world; '83 Australian Open R-up |
| Andrea Jaeger | Reached No.2 in world; '82 French Open, '83 Wimbledon R-up |
| Natasha Zvereva | Reached No.5 in world; '88 French Open R-up |
| Zina Garrison | Reached No.4 in world; '90 Wimbledon R-up |
| Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière | Reached No.3 in world |
| Anna Kournikova | Reached No.1 in world in doubles; won 2 doubles majors |
| Daniela Hantuchova | Reached No.5 in world |
