WTA 2023 Year-End Award Nominees Announced: Featuring a Brit!
The shortlist for the 2023 WTA Awards has been announced, with Iga Swiatek hoping to become the first woman to win the ‘Player of the Year’ award in consecutive years since Serena Williams.
The awards are split between the player awards, which have five different categories, and a separate award for ‘Coach of the Year’.
Player awards are voted for by members of the international tennis media and coach awards are voted for by fellow WTA registered coaches.
WTA Singles Player of the Year
The category for the best player has been awarded to some of the biggest names in tennis over the years, including Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert.
Another of those players who has won this award is Iga Swiatek in 2022, and she has enjoyed another successful campaign this year, finishing the year as world No.1.
What just happened??? 😱 pic.twitter.com/hsSKfFq6wq
— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) November 7, 2023
However, the Pole did lose that status temporarily to Aryna Sabalenka, who has reached at least the semi-final of every major tournament this year, the first woman since the aforementioned Williams to do so.
The major titles were shared out evenly this year, with Sabalenka and Swiatek winning the first two, before the surprise package of Marketa Vondrousova and teenage sensation Coco Gauff also got in on the act.
Here are all the nominees for the Singles Player of the Year:
Iga Swiatek
Win-loss record: 68-11 (86%)
Year-end ranking: No.1
Titles in 2023: 6 (Doha, Stuttgart, Roland Garros, Warsaw, Beijing, WTA Finals)
Aryna Sabalenka
Win-loss record: 55-14 (80%)
Year-end ranking: No.2
Titles in 2023: 3 (Adelaide 1, Australian Open & Madrid)
Coco Gauff
Win-loss record: 51-16 (76%)
Year-end ranking: No.3
Titles in 2023: 4 (Auckland, Washington D.C., Cincinnati & US Open)
Elena Rybakina
Win-loss record: 47-15 (76%)
Year-end ranking: No.4
Titles in 2023: 2 (Indian Wells & Rome)
Jessica Pegula
Win-loss record: 59-18 (77%)
Year-end ranking: No.5
Titles in 2023: 2 (Montreal & Seoul)
Marketa Vondrousova
Win-loss record: 40-18 (69%)
Year-end ranking: No.7
Titles in 2023: 1 (Wimbledon)
Tennishead’s Singles Player of the Year Prediction: Iga Swiatek
WTA Doubles Team of the Year
Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova have been crowned ‘Doubles Team of the Year’ for the last two years, and although they have been nominated again it seems unlikely that they will be able to do the treble with some tough competition.
Winning 3 titles in 2022, reaching the finals in Fort Worth and securing a career Grand Slam 💫
The 2022 Doubles Team of the Year, Czech duo 🇨🇿 @BKrejcikova & @K_Siniakova 👏#WTAAwards pic.twitter.com/VLktW0cLmU
— wta (@WTA) December 12, 2022
Here are all of the nominees for the Doubles Team of the Year:
Storm Hunter & Elise Mertens
Win-loss record: 30-11 (73%)
Year-end ranking: No.1
Titles in 2023: 2 (Rome & Guadalajara)
Coco Gauff & Jessica Pegula
Win-loss record: 35-12 (74%)
Year-end ranking: No.2
Titles in 2023: 2 (Doha & Miami)
Laura Siegmund & Vera Zvonareva
Win-loss record: 29-12 (71%)
Year-end ranking: No.3
Titles in 2023: 4 (Washington D.C., Ningbo, Nanchang & WTA Finals)
Gabriela Dabrowski & Erin Routliffe
Win-loss record: 19-7 (73%)
Year-end ranking: No.4
Titles in 2023: 2 (US Open & Zhengzhou)
Barbora Krejcikova & Katerina Siniakova
Win-loss record: 20-8 (71%)
Year-end ranking: No.5
Titles in 2023: 3 (Australian Open, Indian Wells & San Diego)
Tennishead’s Doubles Team of the Year Prediction: Coco Gauff & Jessica Pegula
Most Improved WTA Player of the Year
The winner of the ‘Most Improved Player of the Year’ in 2022 was Beatriz Haddad Maia, who went onto win the WTA Elite Trophy and reach the Roland Garros semi-finals this year.
It has been a good year for Chinese women’s tennis and this has been showcased in this award with three nominees. There is also a British nominee in the form of Katie Boulter, who claimed her first main tour title in 2023.
2023 season complete. ☑️ Few pinch me moments in this one 🥹🏆 Proud of me, but I owe it all to my closest ones, you know who you are ♥️ To those that continue to support me I appreciate you the most x pic.twitter.com/IX7ysQR4Xk
— Katie Boulter (@katiecboulter) November 16, 2023
Here is the full list of nominees for Most Improved Player of the Year:
Wang Xinyu
Singles Win-loss record: 37-24 (61%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.86
Current Singles Ranking: No.36
Singles Titles in 2023: 1 (Roland Garros Doubles with Hsieh Su-Wei)
Zhu Lin
Singles Win-loss record: 28-24 (54%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.84
Current Singles Ranking: No.37
Singles Titles in 2023: 1 (Hua Hin)
Katie Boulter
Singles Win-loss record: 38-20 (66%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.136
Current Singles Ranking: No.56
Singles Titles in 2023: 1 (Nottingham)
Zheng Qinwen
Singles Win-loss record: 37-19 (66%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.28
Current Singles Ranking: No.15
Singles Titles in 2023: 2 (Palermo & Zhengzhou)
Jasmine Paolini
Singles Win-loss record: 41-29 (59%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.62
Current Singles Ranking: No.30
Singles Titles in 2023: 0 (Finalist in Palermo & Monastir, won doubles in Monastir with Sara Errani)
Tennishead’s Most Improved Player of the Year Prediction: Zheng Qinwen
WTA Newcomer of the Year
There have been plenty of new faces surfacing on the WTA Tour this year, with teenagers making waves at the majors and US College graduates turning their attention to the main tour.
Here is the full list of nominees for the Newcomer of the Year:
Mirra Andreeva
Singles Win-loss record: 36-9 (80%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.293
Current Singles Ranking: No.57
Best Results in 2023: Australian Open Girls Finalist, Madrid Masters Fourth Round, Roland Garros Third Round & Wimbledon Fourth Round.
Diana Shnaider
Singles Win-loss record: 24-21 (53%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.109
Current Singles Ranking: No.65
Best Result in 2023: Ningbo Finalist
Peyton Stearns
Singles Win-loss record: 45-23 (66%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.210
Current Singles Ranking: No.50
Best Result in 2023: Bogota Finalist & US Open Fourth Round
Elina Avanesyan
Singles Win-loss record: 31-24 (56%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.153
Current Singles Ranking: No.74
Best Result in 2023: Roland Garros Fourth Round
Linda Noskova
Singles Win-loss record: 33-20 (62%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.102
Current Singles Ranking: No.41
Best Result in 2023: Adelaide 1 & Prague Finalist
Tennishead’s Newcomer of the Year Prediction: Mirra Andreeva
WTA Comeback Player of the Year
As well as players appearing on the WTA Tour for the first time, there have also been some more familiar faces returning from pregnancy and serious injuries to win Grand Slam titles and make huge jumps up the rankings.
Here are the incredible players on the nominations list for Comeback Player of the Year:
Marketa Vondrousova
Singles Win-loss record: 40-18 (69%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.92
Current Singles Ranking: No.7
Best Result in 2023: Won Wimbledon
Karolina Muchova
Singles Win-loss record: 38-13 (75%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.151
Current Singles Ranking: No.8
Best Result in 2023: Finalist in Roland Garros & Cincinnati
Elina Svitolina
Singles Win-loss record: 21-12 (64%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.240
Current Singles Ranking: No.25
Best Results in 2023: Won Strasbourg, Roland Garros Quarter-final & Wimbledon Semi-final
Hsieh Su-Wei
Doubles Win-loss record: 21-8 (72%)
Doubles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.355
Current Doubles Ranking: No.6
Best Results in 2023: Won Roland Garros with Xinyu Wang & Wimbledon with Barbora Strycova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
Singles Win-loss record: 24-17 (59%)
Singles Ranking at the start of 2023: No.367
Current Singles Ranking: No.58
Best Result in 2023: Roland Garros Quarter-final
Tennishead’s Comeback Player of the Year Prediction: Elina Svitolina
WTA Coach of the Year
As much as the players that take to court deserve high praise, there is also a huge team behind them and the Coach of the Year award enables some of those to receive the credit that they deserve.
Anton Dubrov
Brad Gilbert & Pere Riba
Emil Miske
Raemon Sluiter
Stefano Vukov
Tomasz WiktorowskiMore on the nominees for this season's Coach of the Year ⤵️
— wta (@WTA) November 20, 2023
David Witt, who is the coach of Jessica Pegula, won the award last year, so we are guaranteed a new winner in 2023:
Tomasz Wiktorowski (Iga Swiatek)
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2022-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: No.1
Year-end Ranking: No.1
Best Results: Won Doha, Stuttgart Open, Roland Garros, Warsaw Open, China Open & WTA Finals
Anton Dubrov (Aryna Sabalenka)
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2020-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: No.5
Year-end Ranking: No.2
Best Results: Won Adelaide International 1, Australian Open & Madrid Masters
Brad Gilbert/Pere Riba (Coco Gauff)
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: June 2023-Present/October 2023
Ranking at the start of the Partnership: No.7
Year-end Ranking: No.3
Best Results: Won Washington Open, Cincinnati Masters & US Open
Stefano Vukov (Elena Rybakina)
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2019-Present
Ranking at the start of the year: No.21
Year-end Ranking: No.4
Best Results: Won Indian Wells & Rome Masters
Emil Miske (Karolina Muchova)
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: 2017-2019, April 2023-Present
Ranking at the start of the Partnership: No.52
Year-end Ranking: No.8
Best Results: Roland Garros & Cincinnati Masters Finalist
Raemon Sluiter (Elina Svitolina)
Length of Coach/Player Relationship: March 2023-Present
Ranking at the start of the Partnership: No.875
Year-end Ranking: No.25
Best Results: Won Strasbourg, Roland Garros Quarter-final & Wimbledon Semi-final
Tennishead’s Coach of the Year Prediction: Brad Gilbert/Pere Riba
READ NEXT: Give the gift of affordable luxury with a Rothesay International Eastbourne tennis experience
Join >> Receive $700/£600 of tennis gear from the Tennishead CLUB
Social >> Facebook, Twitter & YouTube
Read >> World’s best tennis magazine
Shop >> Lowest price tennis gear from our trusted partner