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 winning 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 inspiring. 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. The Pole had the advantage throughout most of the season, with Sabalenka ranked No. 3 before the North American hardcourt season.
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 her position as the year-end No. 1 for the first time in her career, which had been a significant goal of hers for many years.
Despite that disappointment, Swiatek still had a great season. 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 also won the title at the Dubai Championships.
Qinwen Zheng is the other player on the list. She won an Olympic gold medal at Roland-Garros, notably beating Swiatek at her favorite venue to make that incredible achievement a reality.
The Chinese player also reached the finals of the WTA Finals and the Australian Open. At the age of just 22, she still has much time to get to the very top.
Sabalenka is undoubtedly the favorite to secure the honor, but any of the five women shortlisted would be worthy winners.
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