•WTA Awards Week kicks off with nine winners announced Monday
•Iga Swiatek, Zheng Qinwen and Mirra Andreeva among Player Award winners
•Ons Jabeur receives two Player Service honors
•Tomasz Wiktorowski named WTA Coach of the Year
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- As 2023 season comes to a close, the WTA will celebrate the standout performers over the next few days as part of awards week, which kicks off Monday with the announcement of the individual award winners.
From Dec. 11 to 15, the WTA will honor the best players, tournaments and coach of the year, as well as those athletes who have made an exceptional contribution to the Hologic WTA Tour at every level.
On Monday, the WTA named five Player Awards, three Player Services Awards and the Coach of Year Award, with the Tournaments of the Year to be unveiled later in the week. All winners will be celebrated across social media and digital platforms over the coming days.
The 2023 WTA Player Award winners, as voted for by international tennis media, are:
Player of the Year: Iga Swiatek
World No.1 Iga Swiatek has been voted as the WTA Player of the Year for the second year in a row, becoming the first player to earn the accolade in back-to-back seasons since Serena Williams from 2012 to 2016. Swiatek won a tour-leading six titles, defending her Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, winning the WTA 1000 China Open (Beijing), WTA 500 events at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open (Doha) and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix (Stuttgart), on home soil at the WTA 250 BNP Paribas Warsaw Open before closing out the season going unbeaten at the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun. Her first WTA Finals crown also secured her the year-end No.1 singles ranking for the second consecutive season.
How vulnerability is one of the key assets to the success of Iga Swiatek
Doubles Team of the Year: Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens
Storm Hunter and Elise Mertens first season competing together on our has proved incredibly successful. The potential for a successful partnership was clear from their debut event together with a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open, before picking up WTA 1000 titles at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome and the Guadalajara Open AKRON Presented by SANTANDER. The pair also reached the title match at the WTA 250 Rothesay Classic Birmingham and Wimbledon, with Hunter closing out an incredible year ranked as the WTA doubles year-end No.1.
Most Improved Player of the Year: Zheng Qinwen
Zheng Qinwen is no stranger to the WTA Awards, having been voted as 2022's Newcomer of the Year and has followed this up with more success this season by winning the Most Improved Player of the Year accolade. Zheng collected her first title at the WTA 250 34 Palermo Ladies Open in June, before reaching another career milestone with a quarterfinal run at the US Open. Her rise continued with a second title, this time on home soil at the WTA 500 Bank of Communications Zhengzhou Open. She closed out the season by winning 12 of her last 15 matches culminating with the final at the Huafa Technology WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai, achieving a new career-high ranking of No.15.
Newcomer of the Year: Mirra Andreeva
No player in the year-end WTA Top 100 enjoyed a greater rankings jump between 2022 and 2023 than Mirra Andreeva, leaping from No.405 to No.46. She kicked off this season in fine form by reaching the Australian Open girls' final before bursting onto the Hologic WTA Tour with a fairytale Round of 16 run at the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open aged just 16 years old, defeating two Top 20 players in the process. She backed this up by storming through qualifying in her debut Grand Slam at Roland-Garros to make the third round and performed similar heroics to reach the second week at Wimbledon.
Comeback Player of the Year: Elina Svitolina
Elina Svitolina spent 12 months away from the Hologic WTA Tour to welcome daughter Skaï, who was born in October 2022, to her family. Svitolina returned to action in April 2023. Before her pregnancy, Svitolina had spent over 200 consecutive weeks in the Top 10 and just a month after her welcome return to the courts she claimed her 17th career title, at the WTA 500 Internationaux de Strasbourg. Her comeback continued with a quarterfinal run at Roland Garros followed by matching her best Grand Slam result by reaching the semifinal at Wimbledon, defeating WTA World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the process. Over the space of five months, Svitolina shot back up the WTA Rankings and ended the year almost as if she had never been away, at No.25.
The winners of the 2023 WTA Player Service Awards, as voted for by WTA players, are:
Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award & Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award: Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur receives double honors in 2023, receiving the Karen Sportsmanship Award for the second year in a row and the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award for the first time in her career. Both are voted on by her WTA athlete peers, with the Karen Krantzcke Sportmanship Award given in recognition for Jabeur’s gracious and considerate manner, support for fair play and respect for others on and off the court. Introduced in 1977, the Peachy Kellmeyer Player Service Award celebrates her outstanding support for her fellow players, as well as other initiatives on behalf of the wider player community. Jabeur joins only Kim Clijsters to have won both awards in the same year.
Jerry Diamond ACES Award: Jessica Pegula
Introduced in 1995 in memory of former WTA CEO Jerry Diamond, the ACES Award this year is presented to Jessica Pegula for her consistent professional conduct and willingness to promote women’s tennis to fans, media and local communities by taking part in off-court promotional and charitable activities. Pegula’s important contribution in championing women’s sport is recognized with this award and her name joins a prestigious list of previous winners, which includes Angelique Kerber, Elina Svitolina and most recently Maria Sakkari.
Coach of the Year, as voted on by WTA registered coaches: Tomasz Wiktorowski
Tomasz Wiktorowski, coach of No.1 Iga Swiatek, has been recognized as the 2023 WTA Coach of the Year for his prominent role in making the Polish star a dominant force in their two years together. Wiktorowski was voted to win this award by WTA registered coaches due to the partnership's resilience and mental strength having faced stiff competition in 2023 to hold and recapture the WTA No.1 ranking in addition to leading the tour for titles won (six) and match wins (68). Among many highlights this season was Swiatek becoming the first woman to defend the Roland Garros title since Justine Henin in 2007 and winning the GNP Seguros WTA Finals Cancun without losing a match, the first time this has been done since 2018 when Elina Svitolina went undefeated.
