Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka, and three other players have been nominated for the prestigious WTA Player of the Year award.
Gauff ended the 2024 season very strongly. She won the 2024 WTA Finals for the first time in her career after a thrilling battle against Qinwen Zheng in the final. The American also defeated Iga Swiatek at the tournament.
That success followed a successful Asian swing. Gauff parted ways with Brad Gilbert after a drop in form during the grass court and the North American hardcourt swings and hired Matt Daly as her coach.
That move proved to be inspired. Gauff immediately won the China Open in her first tournament with Daly in her team and backed that up with a run to the Wuhan Open semifinal before winning the WTA Finals a few weeks later.
Her success in the closing stages of the season meant Gauff ended the year at No. 3. She deserves credit for staying resilient after some challenging moments in 2024.
Sabalenka won two Grand Slams for the first time in her career at the Australian Open and the US Open. Her success at Flushing Meadows followed a few years of coming close to winning the tournament at Flushing Meadows.
The Belarusian also had a thrilling battle for the year-end No. 1 ranking with Iga Swiatek. Sabalenka was ranked No. 3 before the North American hardcourt season, and it seemed like overtaking the Pole would be too great of a challenge.
However, strong form from Sabalenka and a controversial rule about mandatory WTA 500 tournaments that led to Swiatek having many ranking points removed led to Sabalenka overtaking her at No. 1 before the WTA Finals.
Swiatek's loss to Gauff at the season-ending tournament confirmed Sabalenka's position as the year-end No. 1 for the first time in her career, a significant goal of hers for many years.
Despite that disappointment, Swiatek still had a great season and is also one of the nominees. She won her fourth French Open title and was No. 1 for most of the year. Surprisingly, she parted ways with longtime coach Tomasz Wiktorowski after the US Open.
Naomi Osaka's former coach, Wim Fissette, was hired as her replacement. She only had two tournaments with him at the end of the season and will hope to build some momentum with Fissette next season.
Jasmine Paolini's breakthrough season means she is also in contention for the award. The Italian reached the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon and won the Dubai Championships and the Billie Jean King Cup.
The other player on the list is Qinwen Zheng. She won an Olympic gold medal at Roland-Garros, notably beating Swiatek in the semifinal at her favorite venue on her way to making that achievement a reality.
The Chinese player also finished runner-up at the Australian Open and WTA Finals. At just 22, she still has much time to reach the top.
Sabalenka is undoubtedly the favorite to secure the honor, but any of the five women shortlisted would be worthy winners.
0 Comments