St.Petersberg (USA), Dec 7 : Australia’s world number one Ashleigh Barty was crowned WTA Player of the Year for the second time and US Open champion Emma Raducanu won the Newcomer of the Year award, the governing body of the women’s tennis said on Tuesday.
Barty, who also earned the accolade in 2019, won a tour-leading five WTA titles this year.The Championships at Wimbledon was her second Grand Slam title.
She also retained her title at Miami Open .The title-winning Australian won titles in Melbourne and Stuttgart.The Porsche Race to WTA Finals was won by Raducanu, who also secured the World No 1 ranking.She did not drop a set throughout all 10 of her matches.
Raducanu made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at Wimbledon this year and reached the last 16 to become the youngest British woman to reach this stage at the All-England Club.Her other notable results this season include a finals appearance at the Chicago WTA 125 and the quarterfinals at the Transylvania Open.
The British teenager started the year ranked No 343 and finishes the season at a career-best No 19.
The Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova were named doubles team of the Year for the second time, having also been recognized with this honor in 2018.
This season, the Czech duo captured their third Grand Slam trophy as a team at Roland Garros, won additional titles at the Gippsland Trophy (Melbourne) and Mutua Madrid Open, before rounding off the year by lifting the WTA Finals Martina Navratilova Doubles Trophy at the AKRON WTA Finals Guadalajara.
While both held the No 1 doubles ranking this season, Siniakova finishes the year as the WTA doubles year-end No.1.
Meanwhile, Barbora Krejcikova took the WTA prize for the Most Improved Player of the Year following a stellar season in which she won the French Open singles crown.This season, the Czech was crowned singles champion for the first time in her career.This year, she made her Top 50 debut and reached World No 3.
Carla Suarez Navarro won the Comeback Player Award.After being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, the 33-year old decided to retire from professional tennis and return to the tour in 2021 to say goodbye.
The Spaniard was a participant at Roland Garros where Sloane Stephens won three sets.She also played Wimbledon where Ashleigh Barty, the eventual champion, lost three sets.
Spain also hosted the Billie Jean King Cup finals.
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